UC-NRLF 


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)    University  of  California. 

G-IFT  OF 

'  Alexander  Del  Mar. 

1878. 


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. 


PRINCIPLES 


OF 


STATISTICAL    INQUIRY; 

*     B"1      — —  — -  . .   

~~~ 


ILLUSTRAED    I^,v,^Q^^4^-? 


FOR 


UNITING    AN    EXAMINATION 


INTO      THE 


RESOURCES  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 


WITH 


THE     CENSUS 
T-TB 

TO    BE    TAKEN    IN 


CAlJJ<Oj>X|  A 


BY      ARCHIBALD     RUSSELL. 


N  E  W  -  Y  O  R  K  : 
D.APPLETON    &    CO.,    200,    BROADWAY. 

M    DCCO    XXXIX. 


LUDWIG,    PRINTER, 

72,  Vesey-st. 


PREFACE. 


The  following  Essays,  do  not  aspire  to  the  character 
of  a  statistical  treatise,  nor  to  that  of  a  full  examination 
into  the  abstract  principles  of  statistical  inquiry. 

In  the  last  Annual  Message  of  the  President  a  proposal 
is  made  to  unite  the  acquisition  of  Statistics  with  the  enu- 
meration of  the  people ;  and,  aware  of  the  failure  of  former 
attempts  to  investigate  the  condition  of  this  country,  by 
means  of  returns  to  the  General  Government,  I  have  hoped 
to  be  able  to  suggest  some  alterations  in  the  mode  to  be 
pursued. 

It  may  be  thought  that  an  end  so  simple  would  have 
been  more  satisfactorily  attained,  by  reducing  these  observa- 
tions and  suggestions  to  the  smallest  compass,  instead  of 
extending  them  through  so  many  discursive  chapters  ;  and 
perhaps  that  would  have  been  preferable;  but  I  have 
adopted  the  present  plan  in  order  to  attract  some  degree  of 


IV.  PREFACE. 

public  attention  to  a  theme  which  is  usually  considered 
devoid  of  general  interest.  I  have  therefore  introduced  some 
principles  in  political  economy,  which  have  reference  to  the 
several  returns  proposed ;  and  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
the  advantage  which  would  accrue  from  a  full  exposition  of 
the  various  resources  of  the  country,  I  have  given  short 
statements  of  the  information  existing  regarding  them.  It 
has  been  my  object  to  propose  no  subject  for  inquiry  with- 
out accompanying  it  with  some  observations  for  the  purpose 
of  attracting  the  attention  of  the  reader,  which  I  hope  may 
be  deemed  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  trivial  nature  of  the 
notices  sometimes  introduced.  The  introduction  of  so  many 
blank  schedules  may  be  thought  by  some  an  unnecessary 
degree  of  detail,  in  a  work  of  this  general  character ;  but 
being  anxious  to  procure  the  opinion  of  business-men  upon 
the  form  most  suitable  for  returns  from  the  various  manu- 
facturing and  agricultural  interests,  I  have  thought  it  better 
to  propose  them  in  the  extended  form  in  which  I  now 
present  them. 

The  accuracy  of  the  Tables  I  have  inserted,  may  ge- 
nerally be  relied  on ;  but  I  would  wish  to  caution  the 
reader  against  supposing  that  they  are  made  out  with  that 
scrupulous  care,  which  some  remarks  I  have  made  might 
lead  him  to  anticipate ;  neither  did  the  short  time  of  prepa- 
ration permit,  nor  did  the  purpose  they  were  designed  to 


PREFACE.  V 

serve  require,  that  accuracy  in  detail  so  essential  to  sta- 
tistical works  in  general. 

In  pleading  for  an  indulgent  criticism  upon  the  style 
and  execution  of  these  Essays,  I  may  state  that,  being 
anxious  at  an  early  period  to  invite  public  attention  to  the 
propriety  of  profiting  by  the  suggestion  of  the  President,  I 
have  hurried  many  of  them  in  a  way  which  no  young 
author  should  have  attempted,  and  doubtless  overlooked 
many  verbal  inaccuracies. 

But  to  the  views  expressed,  or  the  suggestions  made 
on  any  of  the  subjects  here  discussed,  I  invite  the 
fullest  attention  of  the  reader,  the  object  of  these  pages 
being  to  promote  the  advancement  of  political  and  statis- 
tical science.  The  more  freely  the  topics  are  canvassed, 
the  more  completely  will  that  object  be  attained.  It  will 
ever  give  me  much  pleasure  to  have  any  inaccuracies 
pointed  out,  or  alterations,  in  any  proposed  return  sug- 
gested, by  those  more  conversant  with  statistical  details 
than  myself;  and  as  my  desire  has  been  to  advance 
the  interest  of  a  favourite  study,  I  shall  consider  that  end 
attained  if  the  attention  of  government,  or  statists  in  ge- 
neral, is  attracted  to  the  suggestions  here  proposed. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Principles  of  Statistical  Inquiry, ; 1 

Population  Returns, 35 

Products  of  Manufactures  and  Arts, 49 

Mines  and  Minerals, 66 

Manufactures  of  the  Metals, 79 

Manufactures  on  the  Loom, 81 

General  Manufactures, 89 

Agricultural  Statistics, 99 

Occupations  in  which  the  Inhabitants  are  engaged, 121 

Place  of  Nativity  of  the  Inhabitants, 129 

Vital  Statistics, 149 

Crime, ; 169 

Pauperism, 201 

Education, 217 

Clergy, 232 

Taxation,  .    .     . 239 

Agents  to  be  employed, 255 

Conclusion,    .     .    .    .    ; 261 


Vrt;i;Ai 

sto 

<•';:;• 

THE 

PRINCIPLES 


OF 


STATISTICAL   INQUIRY 


THE  study  of  Statisics,  whether  from  the  light 
which  it  throws  upon  the  social  relations  of  society, 
or  the  information  it  imparts  regarding  its  political 
condition,  is  highly  valuable  and  instructive.  The 
social  condition  of  a  country  is  of  more  vital  impor- 
tance than  its  political,  as  the  maintenance  of  peace 
and  good  order  depends  more  upon  the  former  than 
on  the  latter.  It  was  not  the  dissipation  of  the  Court 
at  Versailles,  nor  the  infidelity  of  the  French  school, 
so  much  as  the  condition  of  the  mass  of  the  community 
the  little  vexatious  and  annoying  inconveniences  and 
restrictions,  to  which  they  were  subjected,  together  with 
the  absence  of  all  practical  religion,  that  awoke  the 
horrors  of  the  revolution  of  1789;  and  the  advantage 
which  Europe  has  reaped  from  those  scenes  of  blood- 
shed and  rapine  is  chiefly  to  be  traced  in  the  im- 
provement of  the  social  relations,  which  that  event 
has  introduced.  History,  as  generally  considered, 
is  rather  the  record  of  the  actions  of  a  government, 
than  a  picture  of  the  actual  condition  of  a  country  in 
its  united  social,  and  political  aspect.  Now  if  the 
1 


2  PRINCIPLES   OF   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY. 

well-being-  of  the  community  is  the  highest  end  of 
Government,  the  obvious  mode  of  estimating  the  ad- 
vantages of  such  Government,  is  by  examining  the 
condition  of  the  mass  of  citizens  or  subjects,  and 
the  want  of  this  examination,  or  practical  test,  is 
the  great  desideratum  of  the  History  of  past  ages. 
How  little  do  we  know  of  the  condition  of  the  people 
of  Modern  Europe,  before  the  general  introduction 
of  printing  opened  a  means  for  travellers,  dramatic 
authors,  journalists,  and  novelists,  to  paint  the  man- 
ners of  their  times.  How  much  more  graphic  does 
history  become,  when  the  details  of  private  life  are 
mingled  either  with  the  successes  or  reverses  of  pub- 
lic arms ;  and  how  much  more  fully  does  a  simple 
social  institution,  like  the  curfew,  exhibit  the  primi- 
tive condition  of  society,  than  all  the  details  of  the 
Norman  Conquest  of  England.  History  may  be 
supposed  to  have  a  higher  aim,  than  to  chronicle  the 
effects  of  social  institutions,  or  to  trace  the  indirect 
and  ever  varying  influences  of  legislative  enactments.^ 
and  it  is  to  occupy  this  ground  that  the  modern  sci- 
ence of  statistics  has  been  called  into  existence. 

Statistics,  as  a  science,  is  of  very  recent  origin, 
the  term  being  first  used  by  Sir  John  Sinclair  in  his 
Parochial  Account  of  Scotland.  It  is  true,  that  va- 
rious governments,  for  the  purpose  of  raising  their 
full  complement  of  soldiers,  and  acquiring  some  data 
for  apportioning  or  increasing  their  quota  of  taxes, 
have  at  different  times  instituted  inquiries  into  the 
condition  of  the  people,  but  as  the  ends  in  view  were 
opposed  to  the  interest  and  wishes  of  the  mass  of  the 
community,  the  returns  procured  were  necessarily 
defective.  Towards  the  close  of  the  17th  century,, 


PRINCIPLES    OP    STATISTICAL    INQUIRY. 

Colbert  made  a  statistical  survey  of  France,  and  in 
England,  the  income  tax,  the  doomsday  book,  poll 
tax,  and  hearth  duties,  have  respectively  furnished 
some  rude  data  for  estimating  the  population  at 
different  epochs.  But  statistics,  defined  as  a  classified 
and  systematic  arrangement  of  well- authenticated 
facts,  can  only  be  said  to  have  its  origin  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  19th  century. 

To  any  one  who  considers  the  utilitarian  and  ma- 
terial principles  which  characterize  the  present  age, 
applying  the  test  of  cui  bono  to  every  scheme  of 
philosophy,  morals,  religion,  or  civil  advancement, 
this  pursuit  of  Statistics,  as  a  science,  can  excite  no 
surprise.  But  we  must  allow  that  the  votaries  of  this 
science,  have  too  frequently  offered  to  the  public, 
detailed  statements  of  facts,  decked  out  in  all  the 
imposing  business-like  aspect  of  tabular  views,  with- 
out having  previously  instituted  a,  patient  inquiry 
into  the  accuracy  of  the  information  on  which  they 
were  based.  "  It  is  the  easiest  thing  possible,"  says 
McCulloch,  "to  pile  figures  on  figures,  but  unless  de- 
duced from  correct  data,  they  serve  only  to  mislead ; 
and  they  do  this  the  more  easily,  that  they  have  a 
scientific  air  about  them,  and  that  most  people  shrink 
from  the  irksome  task  of  examining  whether  tabular 
statements  be  correct  or  not.  There  is  nothing  in 
fact  of  which  one  should  be  so  sceptical,  as  the 
greater  number  of  statistical  facts  and  details,  or 
with  respect  to  which  a  sound  and  searching  criticism 
is  so  necessary."* 

Facts,  no  doubt,  are  the  necessary  basis  of  all  in- 
ductive sciences,  but  it  must  be  remembered,  that 

*  Ed  in.  Rev.  cxiii. 


4  PRINCIPLES   OF   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY, 

figures  are  not  facts,  and  that  unless  the  certainty 
of  the  correctness  of  the  data  represented  by  numer- 
als,  be  ascertained,  arithmetical  reasoning  is  of  all 
others  the  most  fallacious.     It  is  evident,  that  the 
very  causes  which  give  such  certainty  to  the  con- 
clusions of  mathematical  science,  when  referred  to 
absolute  quantities,  must  operate  with  equal  force  to 
prevent   this  mode   of  reasoning   being  applied   to 
quantities  of  variable  powers.    Arithmetical  inquiries 
deal  only  with  certainties,  and  no  account  can  be 
taken  of  the  indirect  causes  which  may  tend  to  alter 
the  final  result ;  if  any  such  cause  exists,  and  can 
be    determined   and   expressed    in   a  mathematical 
equation,  the  argument  proceeds  to  conclusion  with 
equal  certainty,  and   of  the  result  there  can  be  no 
suspicion;  but  if  this  indirect  cause  is  of  unknown 
power,  no  mathematical  argument  can  proceed  from 
the  premises.     Now  it  rarely  happens,  that  the  facts 
ascertained  in  statistical  inquiries  are  of  that  positive 
and  certain  character,  which  can  authorize  the  stu- 
dent's dealing  with  them  as  absolute  quantities  ;  and 
if  not  possessed  of  that  inherent  certainty,  (the  ne- 
cessary quality   of  all  arithmetical  premises)  there 
is  no  means  of  correcting  the  tendency  to  error  which 
they  may  contain.     To  give  a  simple  illustration, 
the  velocity  of  a  cannon  ball,  the  resistance  of  the  air, 
the  attraction  of  the  earth,  and  the  expansion  of  pow- 
der, are  all  known  quantities,   and  may  be  argued 
upon  with  certainty ;  but  if,  instead  of  a  still  and 
quiet  atmosphere,  offering  a  known  resistance,  the 
ball  were  projected  against  a  current  of  air  of  un- 
known power,  the  result  of  the  former  estimate  of  its 
velocity  would  be  erroneous.     So  it  will  ever  be  in 


PRINCIPLES  OP  STATISTICAL  INQ.UIRY.         5 

all  subjects  of  investigation  into  the  statistics  of  hu- 
man actions  and  powers,  and  unless  great  care  be 
used  in  reducing  arguments  logically  sound,  to  an 
arithmetical  form,  a  tendency  to  error  will,  ipso  facto, 
be  introduced,  and  require  to  be  guarded  against. 

And  there  is  another  difficulty  attendant  upon  the 
introduction  of  figures  into  arguments,  which  is,  that 
in  no  way  can  an  error  be  more  rapidly  circulated. 
The  admission  into  any  calculation,  of  an  estimate 
which  varies  from  the  correct  standard,  especially  if 
the  calculation  be  by  multiplication,  renders  the  result 
often  exceedingly  erroneous,  and  the  error  in  the 
premises  can  only  be  detected  by  the  absurdity  of  the 
results.  If  each  family  in  this  country  be  estimated  to 
contain  four  persons,  and  the  number  of  families  were 
ascertained  to  be  two  millions;  any  error  in  that 
estimate  would  greatly  affect  the  conclusion — and,  if 
instead  of  four  persons,  five  should  have  been  allowed 
to  a  family,  the  difference  would  be  two  millions 
in  the  amount  of  the  population.  "  In  a  recent  re- 
port to  the  British  parliament  we  are  favoured  with 
some  curious  instances  of  the  facility  of  arriving  at 
the  most  preposterous  conclusions,  by  the  use  of  this 
*  political  arithmetic.'  The  committee  say,  that  were 
railroads  constructed  between  the  principal  towns  in 
the  empire,  one  million  of  horses  would  be  rendered 
superfluous,  and  as  each  horse  consumes  as  much 
as  eight  men,  the  formation  of  such  railroads  would 
provide  means  for  supporting  about  eight  millions  of 
men ; "  and  as  a  man  consumes  more  than  a  woman 
or  child,  we  may  suppose  that  the  number  of  addi- 
tional inhabitants  England  would  then  contain, 
would  be  about  ten  millions.  As  this  fully  illus- 


6  PRINCIPLES    OF    STATISTICAL    INQUIRY. 

trates  the  consequences  which  follow  the  introduc- 
tion of  unauthorized  estimates  into  arithmetical 
statements,  and  the  rapid  increase  of  error,  when 
once  united  with  figures,  and  incorporated  into  a 
calculation ;  we  need  not  pursue  the  subject  any 
further,  but  merely  remark,  that  the  implicit  belief 
many  place  in  all  detailed  statements  of  figures, 
overlooking  the  most  palpable  errors,  and  placing  the 
most  perfect  confidence  in  obvious  absurdities,  re- 
quires to  be  guarded  against,  and  numerical  state- 
ments, from  the  difficulty  of  examining  them,  should 
be  received  at  all  times  with  caution,  and  often  with 
suspicion. 

Let  it  not  be  thought,  from  these  observations, 
that  we  wish  to  lower  the  general  estimate  of  the 
value  of  statistical  science,  for  looking  upon  it  as  the 
only  sound  foundation  of  political  economy,  we  can- 
not but  regret  that  it  has  been  so  little  attended  to — • 
"  Labours  and  researches  in  statistics,"  says  Dr.  Chal- 
mers, "  I  hold  in  very  high  estimation,  they  furnish 
political  economy  with  its  best  materials,  and  stand 
to  this  science  in  the  same  relation  as  facts  do  to 
philosophy."  But  it  must  ever  be  regretted,  that  the 
science  of  political  economy,  instead  of  following 
a  patient  investigation  of  facts,  has  preceded  it,  and 
that  when  Adam  Smith  elucidated  the  doctrines, 
which  he  was  able  to  detect  with  all  the  clearness 
and  distinctness  for  which  he  is  so  pre-eminent,  nei- 
ther the  area,  population,  occupation,  wealth,  nor 
progressive  advance,  of  his  native  country  were 
known,  but  each  was  the  subject  of  a  vague  conjec- 
ture. Now  it  is  obvious,  that  if  any  science  ought 
to  be  inductive  it  is  political  economy,  which  has  for 


PRINCIPLES    OF    STATISTICAL    INQUIRY.  7 

its  subject  the  uncertain  laws  which  regulate  hu- 
manity, and  natural  products ;  and  for  its  aim  the 
advancement  of  the  social  condition  of  the  world. 
Predicated  accordingly  upon  false  and  insufficient 
data,  it  is  only  to  be  wondered  at,  that  the  earlier 
writers  on  this  science  were  able  to  attain  such  cor- 
rect and  well-digested  views,  and  if  the  science,  as 
explained  by  them,  proved  to  be  miserably  defective 
in  practice,  the  error  is  to  be  attributed  rather  to  the 
want  of  sufficient  premises  for  their  speculations, 
than  to  any  logical  error.  From  these  causes,  it  is 
much  to  be  regretted  that  a  science,  which  might 
have  been  pre-eminently  useful  to  the  human  race, 
has  fallen  into  great  disrepute,  and  that  the  theories 
which  it  promulgated,  of  the  advantages  of  inter- 
course and  free  trade,  have  been  counteracted  by  the 
restrictions  of  commerce,  which  it  has  been  the  fa- 
vourite policy  of  practical  statesmen  to  recommend. 
Such  has  been  the  fate  of  the  science  of  political 
economy,  which,  aiming  at  first  at  too  Icarian  a 
flight,  has  not  been  able  to  sustain  itself. 

If  political  economy,  as  a  science,  is  ever  to  regain 
its  position,  it  must  be  by  laying  a  more  solid  and 
sure  foundation,  and  by  raising  the  superstructure 
of  theory  upon  a  basis  of  facts,  not- "  drawn  from 
imagination,'7  but  the  result  of  patient  statistical  in- 
vestigation— and,  however  advanced  we  may  appear 
in  the  arrangements  for  promoting  the  physical  com- 
forts of  all  classes  of  the  community,  the  details  of  our 
present  social  organization  are  utterly  unknown,  and 
the  writer  in  another  century,  who  wishes  to  draw  an 
accurate  picture  of  our  present  condition,  must  pur- 
sue the  same  means  as  we  have  now  to  use  in  de- 


8  PRINCIPLES   OF   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY. 

picting  the  manners  of  the  18th  century.  We  have 
no  facilities  for  estimating  the  effect  which  the  in- 
creased civilization  of  the  world  has  had  upon  the 
morals,  the  longevity,  the  social  happiness,  or  do- 
mestic habits  of  our  race,  but  as  we  are  ourselves 
utterly  ignorant  of  the  present  condition  of  the 
country,  we  cannot  anticipate  that  posterity  will  be 
better  informed. 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  same  degree  of 
attention  to  statistics  is  not  to  be  expected  in  the 
widely  extended  regions  of  the  United  States,  as  in 
the  more  circumscribed  countries  of  Europe ;  and 
that  the  necessity  of  investigation  does  not  exist  to 
the  same  extent  in  this  country  as  there.  But  we 
apprehend  that  this  impression  is  very  erroneous, 
and  that  a  greater  insight  into  our  present  condition 
than  can  be  obtained  regarding  the  different  Euro- 
pean countries  might  fairly  be  expected ;  in  a  land 
in  which  education  everywhere  prevails — where 
few  prejudices,  comparatively  speaking,  exist — 
where  few  abuses,  which  shun  the  light  of  day,  are 
nurtured — and  in  which  the  utmost  publicity  is  given 
to  the  operations  and  proceedings  of  government. 
Although  the  area  of  the  country  is  great,  it  is  amply 
subdivided  into  counties  and  townships  for  local 
government,  there  being,  in  1830,  937  of  the  former, 
and  5789  of  the  latter ;  and  though  the  extent  and 
distance  of  the  various  states  from  the  seat  of  ge- 
neral government  may  seem  great,  yet  the  post- 
coach  threads  its  way  to  the  remotest  corner,  travers- 
*ing  about  200,000  miles  of  roads,  and  distributing 
intelligence  at  about  12,000  post-offices.  In  every 
township  there  is  some  public  officer,  appointed 


*          PRINCIPLES    OP    STATISTICAL    INGIUIRY.  9 

by  the  laws  of  the  state  in  which  he  resides:  at 
every  post-office  the  general  government  has  an  officer 
whose  intelligence  must  be  equal  to  the  task  required, 
and  whose  services  may  be  commanded.  The  wealth 
of  the  country  and  the  density  of  the  population  are  not 
the  questions  which  need  now  be  inquired  into  ;  but 
the  true  subjects  of  inquiry  are,  is  there  sufficient 
intelligence  prevalent  to  authorize  statistical  inqui- 
ries ?  and  does  the  remoteness  of  the  district  pre- 
vent the  directions  of  government  from  being  pro 
perly  attended  to  ?  These  are  the  only  obstacles 
which  can  present  themselves ;  and  these  no  one  ac- 
quainted with  the  condition  of  the  country  will  hold  to 
be  of  any  account.  The  subject  of  statistical  inquiry 
is  not  abstruse  and  difficult  of  comprehension ;  but 
any  man,  competent  to  transact  the  most  ordinary 
affairs  of  life,  may  be  an  efficient  agent.  It  is  not 
the  province  of  the  assistant  marshal  to  generalize 
the  returns  he  may  make  out,  or  even  to  insert 
any  estimate  into  his  report ;  but  he  has  only  the 
easy  task  of  proposing  a  printed  query,  and  of  in- 
serting the  answer  he  may  receive  to  it,  and  then 
ends  his  duties  by  a  simple  enumeration  of  all  the 
answers  he  has  received.  It  therefore  is  only  requi- 
site that  the  assistant  should  be  an  honest  man— one 
who,  assuming  the  responsibility  of  an  oath,  will 
carefully  comply  with  its  requirements ;  and  that  he 
should  possess  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  locali- 
ties of  the  district  which  is  assigned  to  him.  As  far, 
then,  as  the  objection  to  taking  a  particular  survey  of 
the  country  arises  from  the  number  of  assistants  re- 
quired, a  little  consideration  will  show  its  futility,  as 

the  degree  of  intelligence  requisite  is  of  a  very  ordi- 

2 


10  PRINCIPLES   OP   STATISTICAL   INQUIRY. 

nary  standard.  It  may  be  thought,  on  casting  the 
eye  cursorily  over  the  various  schedules  scattered 
throughout  this  essay,  that  to  comply  with  all  the  re- 
quirements would  be  an  almost  Herculean  task ;  but 
they  are  intended  to  facilitate  rather  than  increase 
the  labour  of  the  assistants,  and,  when  attentively 
considered,  the  simplicity  of  the  arrangement  will  be 
fully  apparent.  If  any  one,  not  accustomed  to  mer- 
cantile pursuits,  has  to  transact  some  business  at  a 
custom-house,  and  to  make  up  the  requisite  state- 
ments, and  get  them  signed  and  countersigned,  the 
intricacy  of  the  detail  will  almost  overwhelm  him ; 
whereas  the  regular  business  man  can,  without  the 
least  exertion,  comply  with  all  the  legal  requirements. 
So,  in  like  manner,  the  tables  appended  may  at  first 
sight  seem  complicated  ;  but  the  practised  assistant 
will  find  no  difficulty  in  comprehending  the  object  of 
the  arrangement.  We  are  therefore  quite  confident 
that  there  will  be  no  difficulty  experienced  in  pro- 
curing able  and  efficient  agents  to  perform  the  work 
required,  if  the  compensation  allowed  by  Congress 
be  sufficient. 

If  no  obstacle  need,  then,  be  expected  from  the 
difficulty  of  procuring  assistants ;  so  none  need  be 
apprehended  from  any  averseness  in  the  community  at 
large  to  answer  them.  In  taking  the  census  on  pre- 
vious occasions,  it  has  been  thought  advisable  to 
insert  a  clause  in  the  law,  imposing  a  penalty  for 
a  refusal  to  answer ;  and  even  this  we  do  not 
think  would  be  necessary.  Let  it  only  be  gene- 
rally known  that  the  investigation  is  made  for 
the  public  benefit,  and  that  all  classes  and  all  pro- 
fessions are  equally  interested — that  the  investiga- 


PRINCIPLES  OP  STATISTICAL  INQUIRY.       11 

tion  proceeds  from  no  party  feeling,  but  that  all 
interests,  commercial  and  manufacturing,  agricultural 
and  professional,  are  alike  to  be  represented — and 
we  doubt  not  but  that  the  fullest  and  most  satisfac- 
tory result  will  flow  from  the  attempt.  It  would  be 
unpopular  for  any  individual  to  oppose  this  legiti- 
mate inquiry  of  the  general  government ;  and  we 
doubt  not  that  public  opinion  will  fully  sustain  the 
plan  being  executed  with  all  the  requisite  minuteness 
of  detail. 

Statistics,  as  a  science,  has  been  divided  by  the 
Germans  into  two  distinct  branches ;  the  one  is  con- 
sidered as  treating  solely  of  the  present  condition  of 
a  country,  enumerating  and  valuing  its  present  pro- 
ducts, examining  the  rate  of  taxation  and  wages,  the 
extent  of  education  and  crime,  and  various  other  de- 
tails of  civil  economy,  as  they  exist  at  one  particular 
time,  rigidly  excluding  all  comparisons  with  the  for- 
mer commercial,  political,  or  social  condition  of  the 
country ;  and  this  has  been  styled  descriptive  sta- 
tistics. The  other  branch,  while  it  embraces  the  de- 
scriptive statistics,  unites  with  it  a  retrospective  view 
of  the  state  of  the  country,  in  order  to  discover  the  im- 
provement or  retrogression  which  has  taken  place ;  and 
his  has  been  styled  Comparative  Statistics.  How- 
ever proper  we  may  consider  the  application  of  the 
latter  branch  to  all  statistical  works,  which  purport  to 
exhibit  a  picture  of  any  country,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  but  that,  in  the  event  of  the  opportunity  being 
improved,  which  the  taking  of  the  census  offers,  the 
United  States  Government  should  confine  itself  sole- 
ly to  descriptive  statistics.  With  the  other,  there 
must  always  necessarily  be  a  mixture  of  theory,  and 


12  PRINCIPLES    OP   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY. 

it  is  quite  possible  so  to  arrange  a  detail  of  facts  as 
to  bias  the  reader  towards  one  or  other  of  the  leading 
political  creeds  of  the  day.  This  ought  to  be  rigidly 
avoided,  and  the  most  careful  means  should  be 
taken  to  prevent  any  prejudice  from  tincturing  the 
returns  which  Goverment  may  present  to  the  country. 
"  In  recommending,"  says  Mr.  Van  Buren,  "  to 
Congress  the  adoption  of  the  necessary  provision  at 
this  session,  for  taking  the  next  census,  or  enumera- 
tion of  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States,  the  sub- 
ject presents  itself,  whether  the  scope  of  the  measure 
might  not  be  usefully  extended  by  causing  it  to  em- 
brace authentic  statistical  returns  of  the  great  interests 
specially  trusted  to,  or  necessarily  affected  by,  the  le- 
gislation of  Congress."  This,  then,  is  the  opportuni- 
ty presented  to  us.  It  is  suggested,  by  the  President, 
in  his  Annual  Message,  and  every  feeling  of  National 
self-respect,  and  the  general  welfare  of  the  country, 
call  loudly  for  its  adoption.  Whatever  be  the  race 
which  the  United  States  has  to  run;  whatever  be  the 
honours  or  power  which  await  its  progressive  im- 
provement, a  knowledge  of  its  present  state,  of  its 
available  resources  and  general  condition,  would  be 
alike  serviceable  to  its  present  interests,  and  con- 
ducive to  its  future  advancement.  The  attention 
of  Europe  is  steadfastly  turned  towards  the  con- 
dition of  America,  and,  while  a  large  mass  of  its  in- 
habitants are  earnestly  desiring  to  see  the  princi- 
ples of  freedom  surmount  the  difficulties  which  ob- 
struct their  progress ;  many  are  indulging  the  secret, 
jet  confident  expectation  of  seeing  the  Federal  Union 
vered,  and  anarchy  and  confusion  destroying  its  pre- 
sent tranquillity — and  surely  it  were  a  proud  task,  and 


PRINCIPLES    OF    STATISTICAL     INQUIRY.  13 

one  which  the  Government  and  people  would  equally 
rejoice  to  promote,  to  herald  to  other  climes,  and 
other  institutions,  the  fruits  of  that  liberty  which  the 
revolution  has  achieved,  and  to  record  the  unrivalled 
improvement  which  the  country  has  undergone  in 
the  brief  period  since  that  event  was  consummated. 
We  do  not  think  that  it  is  necessary  to  colour  the  pic- 
ture with  the  brightest  hues,  and  exhibit  the  country 
in  its  holiday  garb,  to  excite  the  attention  and  admi- 
ration of  distant  beholders,  for,  by  such  indiscrimi- 
nate colouring,  the  cause  of  truth  and  inquiry  is  not 
advanced ;  but,  laying  aside  all  eulogy,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  were  a  pleasant  task  to  portray  the  improved 
condition  of  the  mass  of  the  citizens,  their  increasing 
intelligence  arising  from  their  political  privileges,  the 
order  and  morality  which  a  general  distribution  of 
property  has  introduced,  the  expert  mechanical  ta- 
lent of  the  country  which  circumstances  have  called 
into  action,  and  the  resources,  improvement,  and  na- 
tural wealth,  of  this  large  portion  of  the  Universe, 
which  is  confederated  under  one  General  Govern- 
ment— such  were  pleasant  themes,  and  if  topics  of  a 
less  agreeable  character  were  to  be  treated  of,  and 
the  crime,  and  general  condition  of  the  South;  the 
pauperism  and  prevailing  intemperance,  were  to  be 
painted  not  in  exaggerated,  but  in  true  and  lively  co- 
lours, the  advantages  which  would  flow  from  it  would 
more  than  counterbalance  the  painfulness  of  the  ex- 
posure ;  and  further,  we  believe  that  a  principle,  tend- 
ing to  improvement,  would  be  exhibited,  which  would 
gradually  soften  and  mellow  the  portrait  which  might 
be  drawn,  and  that,  though  the  matrix  might  be  base, 
a  vein  of  pure  metal  would  be  seen,  to  give  promise  of 


14       PRINCIPLES  OP  STATISTICAL  INQUIRY.. 

a  yet  more  improved  and  advanced  state  of  society. 
It  has  been  truly  remarked,  that  those  times  are  most 
conducive  to  the  best  interests  of  humanity,  which 
are  least  interesting  to  the  historian,  who,  loving  to 
record  the  spirit-stirring  scenes  of  war,  or  the  nitrica*- 
cies  of  courtly  intrigue,  can  find  little  to  interest  him 
in  the  tranquil  pursuits  of  a  peaceful  community. 
But  it  is  not  so  with  the  statist,  for  his  inquiries  lie 
among  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  the  people,  when 
conscription  and  levies  are  unheard  of;  when  taxa- 
tion is  not  augmented  to  supply  the  absorbing  de- 
mands of  war,  and  when  the  energies  of  the  country 
are  not  languishing  in  fruitless  proscription,  non-in- 
tercourse and  embargoes.  And  such  is  happily  now 
the  condition  of  this  country,  basking  in  the  sunshine 
of  prosperity,  at  peace  with  all  the  world,  and  pursu- 
ing the  natural  bent  which  her  resources  may  suggest, 
or  policy  may  dictate.  No  time  could  be  more  pro- 
pitious for  taking  an  accurate  and  particular  survey 
of  her  existing  condition. 

Of  the  advantages  of  such  a  survey  it  were  almost 
needless  to  speak,  as  the  most  casual  observer  must 
remark  the  incalculable  benefits,  which  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  working  of  the  political,  the  influ- 
ence of  the  moral  and  social,  and  the  effects  of  the 
Manufacturing  and  Agricultural  condition,  would  be 
fraught  with.  If  the  trite  aphorism,  knowledge  is 
power,  is  at  any  time  true,  it  is  so  pre-eminently 
when  it  is  said  that  a  knowledge  of  resources  must 
precede  the  power  to  use  them.  The  advantages  of 
such  returns  as  we  are  now  about  to  propose,  may 
either  be  referred  to  the  information  which  they  would 
impart  to  Government,  or  the  general  picture  which 


PRINCIPLES   OP   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY.  15 

they  would  exhibit  to  the  community,  of  the  various 
interests  and  present  condition  of  the  country. 

To  the  Government  it  may  be  said  to  be  essential 
to  have  such  returns,  as  will  exhibit  the  condition  of 
the  various  interests,  "  specially  trusted  to,  or  neces- 
sarily affected  by,  the  legislation  of  Congress,"  pre- 
sented at  different  stated  periods.  From  a  total  ab- 
sence of  all  such  returns  in  this  country  and  England, 
we  cannot  illustrate  their  importance  by  any  refer- 
ence to  the  practical  utility  which  they  have  sub- 
served ;  but  it  were  an  easy  task  to  cite  a  thou- 
sand instances  in  which  the  want  of  them  has  been 
the  occasion  of  most  absurd  errors.  It  is  impossible 
to  look  through  the  reports  to  committees  to  the 
houses  of  Congress,  without  being  struck  with  the 
difference  continually  exhibited  in  the  statements  of 
the  condition  of  the  country,  and  the  confidence  with 
which  they  are  asserted  Now  it  may  be  remarked, 
that  upon  the  same  statement  of  facts,  most  men 
form  a  similar  opinion,  or,  at  least,  that  the  judgment 
which  a  corresponding  condition  calls  forth,  will  re- 
semble closely  any  previous  opinion  regarding  it; 
and  it  is  on  the  principle  that  the  average  of  the  com- 
munity will  come  to  a  sound  conclusion  that  the  Jury 
practice  has  been  so  universally  introduced  into  the 
Courts  of  Justice.  So  it  is  in  the  current  affairs 
of  life ;  the  conclusions  an  individual  comes  to  are 
generally  correct  if  the  individual  acts  honestly  with 
himself ;  and  errors,  in  results,  may  be  traced  to  wrong 
premises,  prejudiced  views,  or  a  mistaken  position. 
So  in  public  discussions,  where  the  premises  are 
uncertain,  the  conclusions  of  either  party  cannot  be 
controverted;  and  no  logical  argument  can  weigh 


16  PRINCIPLES    OP   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY. 

against  any  statement  which  a  political  opponent  may 
parade.    Now  if  the  premises  which  form  the  ground- 
work of  discussion,  in  the  National  and  State  legisla- 
tures, were  more   accurately  ascertained,  we  fully 
believe  that  the  violent  and  contradictory  opinions  ex- 
pressed, the  heat  of  party  strife,  which  is  much  fos- 
tered by  the  prevailing  ignorance,   and  the  extreme 
doctrines  entertained  by  the  political  leaders  of  the 
day,  would  be  mutually  harmonized,  and  while  a  dif- 
ference of  opinion  always  must  exist,  the  differences 
would  be  less  marked,  and  the  violence  with  which 
they  were  entertained,  would  be  much  modified.     It 
were  an  endless  task  to  illustrate  the  present  condi- 
tion of  the  majority  and  minority  reports  annually  pre- 
sented to  Congress,  where  it  is  very  remarkable  that 
the  arguments  never  proceed  upon  a  common  state- 
ment of  facts,  but  to  each  report  is  prefixed  a  separate 
detail,  as  the  ground  of  the  opinion  which  it  contains 
The  various  reports  presented  to  Congress  during  the 
discussion  of  the  New  Tariff  Act,  especially  by  the 
New  York  and  Philadelphia  Conventions,  forcibly 
illustrate  this ;  and  the  debates  upon  the  Bank  ques- 
tion, (regarding  which  there  could  be  less  difference 
in  a  detail  of  facts,)  present  a  very  striking  contrast 
from  the  usual  tenor  of  discussion,  as  there  the  differ- 
ence of  opinion  related  to  the  principles  of  Banking, 
and  the  powers  of  Government,  and,  of  consequence, 
the  debates  were  of  a  much  more  elevated  character 
than  those  ordinarily  prevailing,  until  party  feeling, 
breaking  up  the  constitutional  usages  of  the  Govern- 
ment, made  way  for  accusation,  insinuations,  and  in- 
accurate statements.     Every  one  in  the  habit  of  look- 
ing into  these  reports,  must  be  struck  with  the  most 


PRINCIPLES   OP   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY.  17 

opposite  opinions  and  contradictory  facts  constantly 
stated,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted,  that  this  system  of 
random  assertion  is  not  the  characteristic  of  Ameri- 
can reports  only,  for  we  have  already  instanced  the 
errors  regarding  the  introduction  of  railways  into 
England,  and  we  may  instance  one  other  example  of 
absurd  generalization  from  incorrect  data.  "In  1800 
the  Woollen  Manufacturers  in  England  strenuously 
objected  to  some  of  the  provisions  in  the  treaty  of 
union  with  Ireland,  and  were  allowed  to  urge  their 
objections  at  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Lords,  and  to 
produce  evidence  in  their  support.  Mr.  Law,  (after- 
wards Lord  Ellenborough)  the  Counsel  employed  by 
the  Manufacturers  on  this  occasion,  stated,  in  his  ad- 
dress to  their  Lordships,  on  information  communicat- 
ed to  him  by  his  clients,  that  600,000  packs  of  wool 
were  annually  produced  in  England  and  Wales, 
worth  at  £11  per  pack  £6,600.000,  and  that  the 
value  of  the  manufactured  goods  was  three  times  as 
great,  or  £19,800,000;  that  not  less  than  1,500,000 
persons  were  directly  engaged  in  the  operative 
branches  of  the  manufacture,  and  that  it  collaterally 
employed  about  the  same  number  of  hands,  or  about 
three  millions  in  all.  Now  it  would  appear  that  the 
produce  of  wool,  at  that  period,  did  not  exceed  400,000 
packs  ;  and  that  one-third  of  the  population  were  en- 
gaged in  fabricating  it  into  cloth  is  too  preposterous 
to  receive  an  answer."*  And  among  the  Reports  of 
Committees,  and  of  Petitions  to  Congress,  let  any  one 
compare  the  documents  presented  by  the  Iron  Manu- 
facturers and  the  Iron  Workers  of  this  country,  those 
presented  by  the  Coal  Miners,  and  the  different  Man- 

*  Edin.  Review,  ciii. 

3 


18  PRINCIPLES   OF   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY. 

ufacturers,  on  the  Coal  trade,  during  the  course  of  the 
last  session  of  Congress,  to  see  the  vagueness  with 
which  statements  presented  to  the  National  legisla- 
ture are  made. 

The  ignorance  which  prevails  regarding  the  pre- 
sent condition  of  this,  as  well  as  other  countries,  ope- 
rates to  the  disadvantage  of  Government  in  various 
ways,  as  it  cripples  the  arm  of  executive  power,  and 
exposes  thi.  state  of  the  country  to  unmerited  cen- 
sure. When  it  was  publicly  asserted  in  the  French 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  that  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  was  more  expensive  than  that  of 
France,  what  authority  could  the  American  Minister, 
or  any  American  citizen,  cite,  for  the  purpose  of 
contradicting  such  an  error?  His  bare  assertion 
would  be  no  proof  of  the  accuracy  of  his  statement 
and  the  inaccuracy  of  the  other ;  and  it  is  very  doubt- 
ful whether  he  would  feel  himself  warranted  to  take 
any  measures  of  refuting  it  other  than  by  making  a 
simple  contradiction  of  a  statement  which  was  redu- 
ced to  a  detailed  comparison  of  the  taxation  of  this 
country  and  France  ;  making  the  former  35  francs  on 
each  individual,  and  the  latter  30  francs.  Wnen 
even  the  most  incorrect  assertion  like  this,  is  made 
without  any  foundation  or  authority,  it  is  well  known 
that,  until  proof  be  produced  of  its  inaccuracy,  its 
truth  is  currently  believed;  and  the  phrase  that  it  has 
not  been  contradicted,  passes  synonymously  with 
that  it  has  been  proved  to  be  true.  The  National 
honour  requires  that  the  idle  rumours  which  some  are 
interested  in  creating,  or  circulating,  should  be  effec- 
tually silenced,  and  accurate  information  is  all  that  is 
required  to  confute  them. 


PRINCIPLES   OP   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY.  19 

And  again  :  The  recent  Tariff  bill  reduced  the  rate 
of  duties  to  a  low  standard,  in  order  to  make  the  re- 
ceipts of  the  Custom  House  equal  to  the  annual  ex- 
penses of  the  Government,  without  any  accumulation 
of  money  in  the  National  Treasury,  and  therefore 
should  this  country  be  involved  in  war  with  any  Eu- 
ropean power,  however  short  the  period  of  hostilities 
might  prove,  a -system  of  internal  and  direct  taxation 
must  be  adopted  ;  as  not  only  are  the  duties  on  foreign, 
goods  insufficient  for  the  necessary  outlay,  but  the 
source  of  this  revenue,  in  the  event  of  war,  is  mate- 
rially curtailed  ;  and  on  what  branch  of  domestic  in- 
dustry, or  on  what  principles  should  the  assessment 
be  laid  on  the   inhabitants  of  the  different  States,  to 
make  up  the  .deficiency,  arid  raise  the  requisite  sums  ? 
This  is  not  an  idle  hypothesis,  as  the  difficulty  has 
already  occurred  ;  and  during  the  direct  taxation  in 
1815  and  IS  16,  the  greatest  difficulty  was  experienced 
in  determining  upon  what  the  assessment  should  be 
imposed,  and  in   selecting  the  value  of  houses  and 
lots  great  inequality  prevailed.     By  the  constitution 
it  is  provided,  that  the  amount  of  taxes  which   each 
State  shall  furnish,  shall  be  in  the  ratio  of  its  repre- 
sentation, or,  in  other  terms,  in  proportion  to  its  popu- 
lation, by  which  is  evidently  meant,  that  each  indivi- 
dual in  the  United  States  should  furnish  a  similar 
per  centage  of  the  value  of  his  property.     Now  the 
last  mode  of  taxation  was  very  unequal  in  its  opera- 
tion, as  in  the  State  of  Maine  the   inhabitants  of  the 
County  of  Cumberland,   for  every  hundred   dollars 
value    of  their   lands  and  houses,  paid  38  cents  9 
mills,  while,  in  several  other  counties,  the  sum  paid 
on  every  hundred  dollars  value  of  lands  and  houses, 


20        PRINCIPLES  OP  STATISTICAL  INQUIRY. 

was  only  17  cents,  and  the  average  paid  through  the 
whole  State  of  Massachusetts  was   only  21  cents  2 
mills  for  every  hundred  dollars.*     It  were  certainly 
proper  for  the  Government  to  be  prepared  with  such 
returns   of  the  actual  condition  of  the  country,  as 
should  enable  them  to  apportion  the  taxes  according 
to  some  general  principles,  founded  upon  an  accurate 
acquaintance  with  the  capacities  and  resources  which 
they  had  to  deal  with,  and  not  legislate  in    entire 
ignorance  of  the  interests  and  habits  of  the  people. 
It  is  earnestly  to  be  desired,  that  the  period  when  di- 
rect taxation  is  again  resorted  to,  should  be  very  re- 
mote ;  and  that  the  peace  and  tranquillity  which  rest 
upon  the  country  should  long  be  undisturbed ;  but 
the  best  means  of  preserving  its  continuance,  is  by 
being  prepared  to  exhibit  a  statement  of  the  resources 
and  capacities  which  it  contains  ;  while  the  speediest 
means  of  restoring  it,  should  unforeseen  difficulties 
disturb  it,  is  by  being  able  to  rouse  the  latent  ener- 
gies which  it  possesses  into  immediate  action.     And 
this  can  never  be  effectually  done  if  all  the  sources  of 
information  are,  in  the  meantime,  dried  up  and  ex- 
hausted ;  and  if,  instead  of  taking  instant  steps  to 
provide  for  the  emergency,  the  preliminary  measures 
of  inquiry  and  investigation  must  be  entered  upon, 
before  the  views  and  plans  of  the  Government  could 
be  determined ;  and  then  that  determination  must 
necessarily  be  faulty,    being  based  upon  such  ill-di- 
gested information. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  people  of  the  United  States 

*  Pitkin's  Statistics,  p.  312. 


PRINCIPLES  OP  STATISTICAL  INQUIRY.        21 

have,  apart  f  rm  their  government,  an  inter 3st  in  rig- 
idly examining  into  the  statistics  of  the  country.  It  is 
not  in  this  as  in  most  other  countries,  that  a  knowl- 
edge of  one  section  gives  a  good  general  idea  of 
another,  for  the  difference  of  climate  and  soil  are  so 
extreme  that  no  general  estimate  can  be  formed  of 
the  whole,  and  a  statistical  account  of  one  district, 
can  give  no  criterion  by  which  to  judge  of  any  other. 
Bound  together  by  one  national  tie,  the  inhabitants  of 
this  country  are  in  the  habit  of  contemplating  the  vari- 
ous states  which  form  the  Union  as  an  united  whole, 
and  to  migrate  from  one  to  the  other  as  fancy  or  inter- 
est may  dictate  ;  and  therefore  how  interesting  to  have 
the  resources  of  the  various  sections,  the  arts  and  man- 
ufactures of  different  districts,  the  progress  or  depres- 
sion of  particular  states,  the  education  and  the  crime 
of  different  divisions  of  the  country  accurately  por- 
trayed. The  stimulus  which  such  returns  would  give 
to  the  manufacturing  and  agricultural  interests,  the 
openings  which  such  an  insight  into  the  habits  of  the 
people  would  afford  to  the  energy  of  the  trader,  and 
the  general  utility  to  all  classes  of  the  community,  are 
more  easily  enumerated  than  fully  depicted. 

There  is  an  objection  however,  to  having  the  re- 
turns which  we  are  about  to  propose  made  out,  which 
may  be  started  by  some,  and  which  therefore  it  were 
well  to  pre-consider.  That  is  the  constitutionality  of 
the  United  States  government  entering  upon  investi- 
gations regarding  matters  which  are  not  placed  under 
their  direct  cognizance.  The  subject  of  constitution- 
ality will  probably  be  a  bone  of  contention  as  long  as 
the  union  of  the  States  remains  entire,  and  one  there- 
fore, which  it  were  folly  to  think  of  discussing  here ; 


22  PRINCIPLES   OF   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY. 

one  party  wishing  always  to  confine  the  powers  of  ihe 
general  government  to  the  strict  letter  of  the  consti- 
tution, the  other  to  add  many  collateral  powers  to 
those  directly  expressed,  as  necessarily  concomitant 
to  them;  such  as  the  existence  of  power  to  establish 
a  national  bank;  as  the  accompaniment  of  the  power 
to  regulate  the  commerce,  the  establishment  of  a 
Military  Academy,  as  necessary  for  the  defence  of 
the  country,  and  various  other  similar  questions.  With 
the  two  great  divisions  of  public  opinion  on  this  sub- 
ject, we  have  nothing  to  do,  and  we  would  wish 
merely  to  show  that  similar  investigations  to  those 
now  proposed,  have  been  already  sanctioned  by  the 
party  who  support  the  literal  interpretation  of  the  con- 
stitution ;  hoping  that  no  objection  will  be  made  by 
those  who  uphold  its  general  applicability  to  all  mat- 
ters of  this  kind.  In  the  year  1832,  when  General 
Jackson  was  president,  Mr.  Livingston  commenced 
some  very  interesting  inquiries  into  the  amount  of 
taxation,  and  the  number  of  clergy  in  the  United 
States;  in  the  last  census,  of  1830,  when  tha present 
president  was  Secretary  of  State,  the  number  of 
blind  and  deaf  and  dumb  were  enumerated,  and  cer- 
tainly there  is  no  reason,  if  this  were  a  proper  sub- 
ject of  inquiry,  why  the  number  of  convicts  should 
not  be  taken,  and  the  number  of  persons  who  can 
read  and  write,  for  such  would  be  of  equal  political 
interest  with  the  other;  the  number  of  emigrants 
who  enter  the  country,  are  annually  reported,  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  with  the  particulars  of 
their  age,  and  the  countries  from  which  they  come, 
and  if  constitutional,  there  can  be  no  valid  objection 
made  to  having  the  same  information  procured  regard- 


PRINCIPLES   OP   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY.  23 

ing  the  residents  in  the  United  States;  and  the  re- 
ports which,  under  Mr.  Adams  and  General  Jackson, 
were  obtained  regarding  the  manufactures  of  the 
United  States,  would  certainly  warrant  the  same 
minuteness  of  inquiry  being  extended  to  the  agricul- 
tural interests  of  the  country.  Such  are  a  few  of  th.e 
inquiries  which  have  been  instituted  by  the  general 
government,  especially  by  those  now  in  office,  and 
there  seems  an  equally  apparent  connection  between 
the  subjects  we  are  about  to  propose  and  those  already 
treated  of.  When  the  question  of  constitutionality 
relates  to  powers  which  may,  if  perverted,  under- 
mine the  foundation  of  government,  we  think  any 
one  who  apprehends  dangerous  consequences,  is  not 
only  justified,  but  bound  to  oppose  any  innovation, 
but  where  the  desired  extension  of  power  relates 
solely  to  the  legitimate  ends  of  acquiring  information, 
we  would  hope  no  such  objections  will  be  raised  to 
impede  the  aim  we  have  in  view. 

The  period  for  the  enumeration  of  the  people,  has 
already  been  twice  embraced  for  the  purpose  of 
acquiring  statistical  information  regarding  the  state  of 
manufactures;  first,  in  18)0  and  again  in  1820,  and 
it  would  seem  that  the  defectiveness  of  the  returns 
thus  procured,  prevented  the  attempt  from  being 
made  at  the  taking  of  the  last  census  in  1830.  IQ 
that  census  however,  the  want  of  statistical  informa- 
tion is  amply  atoned  for,  by  the  increased  attention 
bestowed  upon  the  classification  of  the  population, 
and  the  insight  which  it  will  eventually  give  us  into 
the  theory  of  population,  the  ratio  of  increase,  and 
other  interesting  topics  in.  vital  statistics.  In  1810, 
the  Secretary  of  State  placed  the  very  defective 


24  PRINCIPLES   OP   STATISTICAL   INQUIRY, 

returns  received  from  the  marshals,  in  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Tench  Coxe,  of  Philadelphia,  for  clas  i- 
fication  and  arrangement,  and  although  they  are  re- 
ported to  have  been  very  defective  and  to  contain  a 
number  of  the  most  glaring  inconsistencies,  that  gen- 
tleman was  able  to  arrive  at  a  rough  estimate  of  the 
various  productions  of  the  country.  But  as  attention 
to  detail  is  absolutely  necessary  in  acquiring  informa 
tion  regarding  statistics,  the  abstract  then  prepared 
must  be  regarded  rather  in  the  light  of  an  estimate 
than  an  official  statement. 

The  returns  of  1820,  we  will  again  refer  to  at 
greater  length  when  speaking  of  the  manufactures  of 
the  country,  but  we  believe  they  were  more  defective 
than  those  of  the  preceding  decimal  period,  and  that 
no  abstract  or  classification  has  ever  been  made  from 
them. 

It  is  for  the  purpose  of  calling  the  attention  of  gov- 
ernment and  the  community  at  large,  to  the  propriety 
and  facility  of  obtaining  ample  returns  from  the  va- 
rious states  of  their  increasing  wealth,  their  extend- 
ing manufactures,  their  improvements  in  education, 
and  the  expenses  of  their  government,  that  we  have 
hastily  embraced  the  opportunity  since  the  message 
of  1838,  of  inquiring  into  the  principles  which  ought 
to  regulate  the  examination  proposed,  and  of  prepar- 
ing appropriate  schedules  for  the  use  of  the  marshals. 
We  are  well  aware  that  this  is  no  popular  task,  and 
therefore,  one  to  which  we  cannot  expect  to  draw 
much  attention,  but  partial  to  the  pursuit  of  sta- 
tistical investigation,  we  have  hoped  to  excite  a 
sufficient  interest  in  the  subject  during  the  recess  of 
Congress,  to  induce  that  body  to  secure  more  careful 


PRINCIPLES  OP  STATISTICAL  INQUIRY.        25 

legislation  regarding  it,  than  has  hitherto  been  consid- 
ered necessary. 

In  making  some  general  observations  upon  the  prin- 
ciples which  should  regulate  the  inquiry  into  the 
nation's  present  condition,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
observe, 

]  st.  That  the  form  of  schedules  which  should  be 
circulated  throughout  the  country,  for  the  purpose  of 
eliciting  the  desired  information,  need  not  be  the  form 
in  which  they  are  ultimately  presented  to  the  public, 
but  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  suit  the  various  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  and  before  publication  they 
might  be  modified  and  condensed  upon  some  general 
principles. 

2d.  These  schedules  should  be  adapted  to  the  ac- 
tual condition  of  the  state  to  which  they  are  sent. 
There  are  many  of  the  proposed  subjects  of  inquiry 
which  are  generally  and  universally  applicable,  and 
to  these,  such  as  population,  manufactures  and  agri- 
culture, our  present  observations  do  not  extend,  and 
under  their  respective  heads  we  will  consider  the 
most  eligible  mode  of  obtaining  returns ;  but  at 
present,  we  refer  to  those  subjects  of  inquiry  which 
relate  to  the  operation  of  certain  laws  which  differ 
materially  in  the  various  states.  Now  if  the  sched- 
ule is  so  arranged  that  the  available  information  can- 
not be  entered  in  the  lists,  the  returning  officer  will 
feel  himself  entitled  to  avoid  the  trouble,  and  leave  a 
return  if  not  perfectly  applicable  to  his  district,  entire- 
ly blank.  As  a  simple  example,  let  us  instance  the  re- 
turns of  pauperism  from  the  different  states ;  if  a  mar- 
shal received  a  blank  schedule  thus  drawn  out  to  fill  up, 
4 


26  PRINCIPLES    OP   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY. 


Are  the  poor  in  this 
County    supported 
in  poor-houses  1 

Are  the  poor  board- 
ed  out   in   private 
families? 

What  is  the  aver- 
age No.  of  poor  in 
this  county  ? 

What  is  the  average 
expense  of  each 
pauper  ? 

and  if  the1  returns  he  could  procure  in  the  district 
were  reported  to  him  in  the  following  form — 

"The  whole  number  of  poorin  the  county  for  the 
last  year,  was  50;  the  whole  amount  paid  out  in 
the  course  of  the  year,  was  $150  ":  it  is  evident  that 
the  one  set  of  returns  will  not  correspond  with  the 
other,  as  in  the  latter  case,  the  poor  may  have  been 
on  the  roll  only  during  the  winter  months,  and  no  ac- 
count is  taken  of  the  term  for  which  they  receive 
charity;  and  in  this  case,  the  marshal  would  consider 
himself  justified  in  making  no  return.  So  in  like 
manner  if  in  estimating  the  value  of  personal  prop- 
erty in  the  several  states ;  in  some  where  the  taxes 
are  paid  on  a  per  centage  of  the  personal  estate, 
there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  procuring  answers  to 
any  query  drawn  out  in  reference  to  the  matter,  but  if 
instead  of  a  per  centage  upon  the  whole  personal 
estate,  as  is  the  plan  pursued  in  New- York,  a  certain 
rate  were  charged  upon  various  descriptions  of  prop- 
erty, such  as  horses  and  cattle,  carriages,  &c.,  as  in 
New- Jersey;  the  table  suited  for  the  one  return, 
would  be  inapplicable  to  the  other.  This  would  of 
course  require  a  particular  and  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  condition  of  each  state  and  its  general  inter- 
nal economy,  and  we  have  neither  the  means  nor  the 
time  to  exhibit  such  detailed  schedules  for  completing 


PRINCIPLES    OF    STATISTICAL    INQUIRY.  27 

the  census,  but  it  would  be  easy  for  the  Secretary  of 
State  to  procure  from  the  district  attorneys,  or  other 
competent  officers,  a  plan  for  making  these  inquiries 
in  each  state  or  district,  or  an  examination  of  the  laws 
of  the  different  states  would  exhibit  the  principle  on 
which  such  a  schedule  should  be  conducted.  And, 

3dly.  Instead  of  following,  these  investigations 
ought  to  precede  the  enumeration  of  the  people.  In 
1810  and  1820,  when  the  returns  were  procured,  they 
were  found  to  be  in  such  confusion  as  to  be  almost 
without  value,  whereas  had  a  patient  examination  into 
the  proper  form  of  queries  been  instituted  previously, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  amount  of  infor- 
mation obtained,  would  have  been  incalculably  in- 
creased. 

Let  the  experience  of  the  past  therefore  be  profited 
by,  and  the  opportunity  of  turning  to  account,  the  pre- 
sent taking  of  the  census  of  the  people  be  practically 
improved,  before  the  period  shall  arrive  when  the 
work  must  be  commenced.  Occurring  only  at  inter- 
vals of  ten  years,  it  were  but  proper  that  no  trouble 
should  be  spared  in  the  investigation,  for  the  satis- 
factory preparation  of  the  schedules,  or  in  the  subse- 
quent arrangement  of  them,  but  that  the  one  and  the 
other  should  bear  the  marks  of  diligence  and  care. 
The  large  amount  of  money  which  the  census  may 
be  expected  to  cost,  upwards  of  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  is  of  itself  an  ample  excuse  for  calling  the 
attention  of  the  public  to  the  most  advantageous 
means  of  disbursing  so  much  money ;  while  the  inter- 
est and  value  which  would  attach  to  the  statistical 


28  PRINCIPLES    OF    STATISTICAL    INQUIRY. 

details  which  might  be  procured,  will  excite  the  hopes 
of  those  fond  of  this  study. 

In  the  following  observations,  we  will  cursorily 
enumerate  the  various  topics  which  demand  attention, 
and  in  our  remarks  upon  them,  will  be  guided  by 
two  principles  which  we  desire  may  be  constantly 
remembered.  We  have  given  short  notices  of  each 
branch  of  inquiry  which  we  propose,  mentioning  the 
interest  which  would  attach  to  the  return,  and  the 
propriety  of  obtaining  it,  and  to  these  notices  we 
have  added  short  statistical  statements,  either 

1st.  For  the  purpose  of  showing  how  much  infor- 
mation has  been  already  procured  on  the  subject  there 
treated  of,  either  in  the  United  States,  or  in  some  par- 
ticular state  or  section,  and  arguing  from  such  state- 
ment, that  if  the  means  of  obtaining  the  information 
existed  at  any  previous  time,  or  if  in  any  limited  sec- 
tion, the  possibility  of  procuring  it  had  been  tested, 
there  could  be  no  valid  reason  why  it  should  not 
again  be  procured,  or  why  the  examination  previously 
local,  might  not  be  made  general.  The  increasing 
intelligence  of  the  people,  and  the  general  diffusion 
of  education,  rather  tend  to  promote  the  objects  of 
such  inquiries,  than  to  retard  them,  and  sorry  would 
be  the  picture  of  the  country,  if  more  disinclination 
to  further  the  inquiries  of  government  prevailed  at 
the  present  day,  than  at  any  previous  period.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  country  at  large,  freed  from  all 
direct  taxation  by  the  general  government,  and 
virtually  unconscious  that  they  do  contribute  to  its 
support,  can  have  no  apprehension  of  the  object  of 
the  inquiries  being  the  prelude  to  taxation,  a  feeling, 


PRINCIPLES    OF    STATISTICAL    INQUIRY.  29 

that  occasions  great  difficulty  in  procuring  statistics 
in  Europe.     "  Before  the  books  were  prepared,"  says 
Dr.  Cleland,    "  an  advertisement  was  put  into  all  the 
newspapers,  requesting  the  inhabitants  to  favour  me 
with  their  suggestions  as  to  classification,  and  before 
the  list-takers  commenced  their  operations,  bills  were 
posted  on  the  houses  informing  the  inhabitants  of  the 
nature  of  the  inquiries,  and  that  they  had  no  refer- 
ence to  taxes,  militia,  &c."*     But  in  this  country, 
where  the  inhabitants  have  been  accustomed  to  the 
taking  of  the  census  on  previous  occasions,  and  where 
information  to  Government  is  not  associated  with  tax- 
ation, no  such  preliminary  measures  are  necessary, 
and  we  see  no  reason  to  apprehend  any  difficulty  to 
be  overcome,  or  prejudice  to  be  struggled  against,  in 
completing  the  desired  returns. 

2dly.  The  other  object  which  we  have  in  view  by 
the  notices  of  the  various  topics  referred  to,  is  differ- 
ent from  the  general  aim  of  statistical  statements. 
They  are  usually  intended  to  show  how  much  is 
known  upon  a  subject,  while  these  are  intended  to 
show  how  little  accurate  information  on  that  subject 
can  be  procured.  After  mentioning  the  advantages 
which  would  accrue,  either  to  the  Government  or  to 
the  community,  from  information  on  some  particular 
branch  of  inquiry,  we  will  add  the  whole  amount  of 
actual  knowledge  which  can  be  gained  on  the  sub- 
ject at  present,  and  thus,  by  contrast,  endeavour  to 
exemplify  the  importance  of  the  proposed  return ; 
or  we  will  occasionally  refer  to  the  later  works  on 

*  Cleland's  Statistics  of  Glasgow  and  Lanarkshire,  1332. 


30  PRINCIPLES   OP   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY. 

British  statistics,  to  illustrate  the  information  which 
we  are  desirous  of  procuring.  And  in  no  way  we 
believe,  can  the  information  sought  after  be  more 
completely  realized,  or  the  necessity  of  procuring  it 
be  made  more  apparent,  and  therefore  we  have  had 
recourse  to  it. 

It  is  on  these  two  principles,  and  on  these  alone, 
that  the  following  examination  into  the  nature  and 
condition  of  this  country,  in  its  social  and  operative 
relations  has  been  instituted,  and  while  some  little 
information  may  occasionally  be  conveyed,  it  would 
be  most  unfair  to  consider  the  following  pages  in  the 
light  of  a  systematic  statistical  essay.  Whether  we 
may  fulfil  the  aim  we  have  in  view,  or  whether  the 
means  we  may  use  be  not  adequate  to  the  end  pro- 
posed, it  is  for  our  readers,  not  ourselves,  to  judge ; 
but  we  must  insist  upon  the  judgment,  proceeding 
not  on  any  high  estimate  of  what  the  work  should  be, 
but  with  the  constant  remembrance  of  the  object  of 
the  present  attempt.  The  plan  of  this  work  is  cer- 
tainly not  ambitious,  and  the  interest  attaching 
to  it,  must  necessarily  be  of  a  temporary  character, 
although  we  believe  that  the  principles  which  are  the 
ground  work  of  these  investigations,  are  permanent 
in  their  nature,  and  will  at  any  time  bear  the  test  of 
rigid  examination. 

In  the  plan  of  this  essay  we  embrace  an  inquiry 
into  those  topics  only,  regarding  which  we  think  it 
practicable  to  obtain  information,  omitting  all  refer- 
ence to  many  interesting  subjects  which  foreign 
statists  investigate,  and  omitting  those  inquiries,  also, 
which  may  be  examined  from  sources  at  present 


PRINCIPLES   OP   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY.  31 

available.  Among  the  former,  the  expenses  of  the 
various  classes  of  society,*  all  reference  to  the  amount 
of  litigation  in  the  United  States,  the  price  and  qua- 
lity of  the  food  consumed  in  various  sections  of  the 
country,  any  general  investigation  into  the  remune- 
ration for  the  services  of  professional  men,  manu- 
facturers, or  farm  labourers,  and  various  other  topics, 
might  be  mentioned,  which  we  have  omitted  because 
it  is  impossible  to  see  the  means  by  the  use  of  which 
the  information  could  be  obtained.  It  is  true  that 
we  might  procure  rough  estimates  from  different  parts 


* Income  of  one  thousand  francs,  as  expended  in  Paris,  according  to  M.  Millot,  and 
given  by  Dr.  Bowring,  in  his  Parliamentary  Reports. 

Francs. 

For  taxes,  direct,  indirect,  local,  &c 136.05 

Food,  of  which  the  proportions  per  cent,  are 

26  Drink, 

34  Animal  food, 

19  Bread,      .    .' 


11  Colonials, 


352.43 


7  Vegetables, 

2  Condiments, 

1  Water, J 

Education  of  children, 35.73 

Rent  and  repair  of  buildings, 114.00 

Clothing, •  70.48 

Light  and  fuel, 68.18 

Washing, 36.00 

Furnishing  house, 68.02 

Expenses  for  servants, 46.00 

Horses  and  carriages, 32.88 

Coach  hire, 11.54 

Tobacco, 6.51 

Baths, 3.20 

Charity, 11.42 

Medical  attendance, 11.56 

Newspaper 3.43 

Theatres, 7.09 

Other  expenses, 6.44 

1020.98 

When  it  is  remarkable  that  no  reference  is  made  to  the  support  of  religion, 
or  literature,  as  a  source  of  expense,  there  is  much  dry  humour — a  rare 
quality  with  statists— in  making  the  annual  expenditure  of  a  Parisian  of  one 
thousand  francs  income  amount  to  one  thousand  twenty-one  francs. 


32  PRINCIPLES   OP   STATISTICAL    INQUIRY. 

of  the  country  regarding  some  of  these ;  but,  averse 
to  incorporating  estimates  in  these  government  re- 
turns, we  believe  that  all  reference  to  such  subjects  is 
better  omitted.  Among  the  latter  class  which  we  have 
thought  it  better  to  omit,  stand  some  of  the  most  pro- 
minent sources  of  the  progressive  advancement  of  the 
country  ;  but  as  the  custom-house  reports  are  made 
with  great  accuracy,  and  exhibit  great  detail  of  in- 
formation, any  separate  inquiry  is  unnecessary. 
Ship-building,  in  all  its  branches,  may  be  classed 
among  these  subjects,  as  the  annual  amount  of  ton- 
nage added  to  the  mercantile  navy  is  known,  as  well 
as  the  size  and  class  of  vessels  to  which  it  belongs. 
The  amount  of  tonnage  and  its  value  being  deter- 
mined, the  value  of  labour  and  of  material  can  easily 
be  ascertained  by  queries  put  to  the  leading  ship- 
builders at  the  different  ports,  and  from  their  answers 
accurate  details  might  be  arrived  at.  The  fisheries 
of  the  United  States  is  another  subject  which  is  ac- 
curately reported  on  at  present,  whether  we  refer  to 
the  enterprising  whale  fisheries  or  hardly  less  ardu- 
ous bank  fisheries. 

There  is  another  class  of  subjects  which  we  have 
preferred  omitting,  from  the  difficulty  of  obtaining 
accurate  returns  regarding  it,  but  which  the  officer 
directing  the  investigation  may  think  it  proper  to 
insert,  viz.,  the  products  of  the  forest,  whether  the 
value  of  the  timber  annually  felled,  or  the  amount 
of  furs,  skins,  medicinal  herbs,  &c.  procured  from  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  objects  of  inquiry  which 
we  have  thought  it  advisable  for  the  government  to 
pursue  relate  to  the  population,  the  manufacturing 
and  agricultural  interests  of  the  country,  the  occupa- 


PRINCIPLES    OF    STATISTICAL    INQUIRY.  33 

tions  of  the  people,  the  place  of  nativity  of  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  United  States,  the  vital  statistics,  crime 
and  pauperism  of  the  country,  the  education  and  tax- 
ation which  prevail  in  the  several  states,  together 
with  the  most  appropriate  means  of  procuring  these 
returns,  the  agents  to  be  employed,  and  the  remune- 
ration to  be  offered.  Under  these  more  general  divi- 
sions many  subordinate  subjects  must  necessarily 
arise  ;  and,  when  fully  considered  and  amply  reported 
on,  a  mass  of  statistical  information  will  be  the  result, 
which  has  never  been  equalled  by  the  researches  of 
any  modern  statist. 

We  have  said  modern  statists,  for  we  believe  that 
during  the  vigorous  manhood  of  the  Roman  empire, 
statistics  were  generally  pursued ;  and  the  Roman 
senate  had  the  most  ample  details,  not  only  of  the 
population,  wealth  and  habits  of  their  domestic  citi- 
zens, but  also  of  their  remotest  colonies  and  pro- 
vinces, periodically  laid  before  them.  When  we 
consider  the  extent  of  the  Roman  empire — embracing 
the  greater  part  of  Europe,  stretching  far  into  Asia, 
and  claiming  the  whole  northern  shore  of  Africa — we 
cannot  but  be  struck  with  the  mechanism  of  a  go- 
vernment which  procured  ample  accounts  of  the 
condition  and  prosperity  of  its  tributaries  in  every 
quarter.  And  if  proper  and  suitable  for  the  table  of 
the  Roman  capitol,  why  should  such  returns  not  cover 
that  of  the  American ;  and  if  in  the  darker  ages  of 
ancient  rule  it  were  possible  to  procure  them,  in  the 
modern  advancement  of  society  the  facilities  for  doing 
so  must  be  much  increased.  The  following  quotation 
from  the  Roman  history  of  Livy  will  show  the  exist- 
ence of  such  returns,  relative  to  the  domestic  and  the 
5 


34  PRINCIPLES   OP  STATISTICAL    INQUIRY. 

foreign  population ;  and  we  shall  afterwards  allude 
to  the  measures  taken  to  procure  them.  "It  was 
ordained  that  a  survey  of  the  persons  and  estates 
should  be  made  in  those  colonies  (Latine,)  according 
to  a  regulation  to  be  directed  by  the  Roman  censor, 
which  should  be  the  same  as  was  directed  for  the 
Roman  people  ;  and  a  return  of  this,  made  at  Rome, 
of  those  colonies  on  their  oaths  before  they  went  out 
of  office."*  And  the  biblical  reader  will  find  that 
this  practice  explains  the  apparent  contradiction  be- 
tweenSt.  Luke  ii,  2,  3,  and  Acts  v,  37  ;  as  the  enume- 
ration of  the  Jewish  people  was  first  made  at  the  time 
of  the  birth  of  our  Saviour,  but  the  taxes  consequent 
upon  it  were  not  imposed  until  eleven  years  after- 
wards, when  Cyrenius  was  governor  of  Syria. 

In  presenting,  therefore,  this  subject  to  the  public,  in 
detail,  some  time  before  the  period  of  the  enumeration 
of  the  people  usually  begins,  we  hope  to  attract  suffi- 
cient attention  to  interest  the  government  and  those 
engaged  in  statistical  pursuits  in  the  most  expedient 
way  of  procuring  information.  "  Scarcely  any  man 
publishes  a  book,"  says  Dr.  Johnson,  "  whatever  it 
may  be,  without  believing  that  he  has  caught  the 
moment  when  the  public  attention  is  vacant  to  his 
call,  and  the  world  is  disposed  in  a  peculiar  manner 
to  learn  the  art  which  he  undertakes  to  teach."f  If 
we  do  not  plead  guilty  to  this  confident  feeling,  we 
are  at  least  conscious  of  the  appropriateness  of  the 
time  of  publishing  these  observations  ;  and  we  do  so 
in  the  hope  of  advancing  the  interests  of  "political 
science  in  this  country. 

*  Historia  Romana,  xxix,  15. 
t  Preface  to  Rolfs  Dictionary  of  Trade  and  Commerce. 


POPULATION   RETURNS.  35 


POPULATION   RETURNS. 


No  branch  of  Political  Economy  has  engaged  more 
attention,  and  none  is  nore  deserving  of  it.  The  va- 
rious questions  regarding  this  interesting  subject, 
have  been  fully  discussed  by  modern  political  wri- 
ters ;  and  much  acrimony  and  keenness  have  been 
enlisted  in  the  controversy.  The  belief  that  it  was 
in  the  power,  and  perhaps  therefore  the  duty,  of  a 
Government  to  regulate  the  increase  of  its  people, 
has  been  one  reason  why  the  subject  has  excited  so 
much  interest,  and  the  strong  positions  assumed  by 
one  party,  have  been  met  by  counter-statements  of  an 
equally  positive  character  by  the  other.  From  its 
insular  position,  and  rapidly  increasing  population, 
this  controversy  seems  to  have  been  carried  on  more 
bitterly  in  England  than  elsewhere ;  and  Godwin, 
Malthus  and  Sadler,  have  each  in  their  turns,  been 
the  champions  of  the  different  views  which  supported 
their  own  theories.  The  controversy  has,  by  this 
time,  subsided,  and  general  belief  seems  to  coincide 
with  the  views  of  Malthus,  in  his  philosophical  and 
elegant  essay  on  population ;  and  without  intending 
to  awaken  its  slumbering  fires,  we  would,  before 
making  some  observations  on  the  population  returns 
of  this  country,  wish  to  dissent  from  some  of  the  po- 
sitions he  maintains. 


36  POPULATION    RETURNS. 

Mr.  Malthus  endeavours  to  prove,  that  while  the 
fruits  of  the  earth  advance,  or  increase,  only  in  an 
Arithmetical  ratio,  the  tendency  of  population  is  to 
increase  in  a  Mathematical  ratio.  We  believe  we 
state  his  position  fairly,  and  as  thus  stated,  it  con- 
tains two  erroneous  assumptions.  The  first  is,  that 
there  is  any  ratio  in  the  increase,  or  decrease,  of  popu- 
lation and  agriculture ;  and  the  second,  that  a  ten- 
dency involves  a  certainty. 

As  to  the  first : — The  application  of  the  term  ratio, 
requires  that  the  causes  which  determine  the  altera- 
tion in  the  number  of  the  inhabitants,  or  in  the  amount 
of  food,  be  accurately  determined.  A  ratio  of  quan- 
tities, which  are  variable,  conveys  no  idea,  unless  the 
variation  also  depends  upon  known  laws,  and  main- 
tains the  relation  between  the  quantities,  always  un- 
impaired. But  if  one  quantity  may,  from  indirect 
causes,  be  affected,  while  the  other  remains  unalter- 
ed, it  is  evident  that  no  ratio,  or  necessary  propor- 
tion, can  exist  between  them.  And  in  this  we  find 
the  error  alluded  to  in  the  previous  chapter,  of  at- 
tempting to  deduce  logical  arguments  from  arithme- 
tical statements,  for,  in  truth,  the  facts  relating  to 
population  cannot  be  ascertained  with  mathematical 
precision.  It  may  be  true,  that  the  tendency  of  popu- 
lation to  increase,  is  greater  than  of  the  fruits  of  the 
earth  to  multiply  ;  but  this  tendency  in  the  one  is  in- 
herent, in  the  other  it  is  adventitious  ;  and  admitting 
that  the  tendency  to  increase  is  greater  than  an 
arithmetical  ratio  would  account  for,  that,  by  no 
means,  proves  that  it  must  be  in  a  mathematical  ratio. 

As  to  the  term  tendency,  in  the  second  place,  it  is 


POPULATION   RETURNS.  37 

quite  inadmissable  when  applied  to  established  ratios ; 
and  must  either  mean  that  the  proportion  which  the 
population  and  provision  of  a  country  maintain,  is 
uniform,  or  it  must  mean  that  it  is  variable.  To  say 
that  it  has  only  a  tendency  to  be  uniform,  is,  in  other 
words,  to  say  that  it  may  vary,  and,  unless  the  term 
is  used  in  the  first  sense,  the  whole  foundation,  as  a 
mathematical  proposition  must  fall  to  the  ground. 

We,  by  no  means,  deny  the  position  of  Mr.  Mal- 
thus,  if  confined  to  a  general  statement,  when  we 
think  the  term  tendency  may  be  properly  introduced 
as  conveying  the  impression  of  a  variable  law  which 
may  prompt  the  population  to  outrun  the  means  of 
subsistence ;  but  not  when  it  is  looked  upon  as  a 
fixed  law,  and  reduced  to  an  arithmetical  equation. 

From  another  erroneous  position  (if  so  we  may 
venture  to  term  it)  of  Mr.  Malthus,  that  "  agriculture 
is  the  efficient  cause  of  population,  not  population  of 
agriculture,"  we  are  led  to  consider  Mr.  Everett's 
new  theory  on  the  subject,  who  argues,  with  appa- 
rent truth,  that  the  amount  of  disposable  labour  keep- 
ing pace  with  the  increase  of  population,  the  effect 
of  this  principle  will  be  felt,  in  the  first  instance,  upon 
the  agricultural  interest;  and  that,  in  a  state  of 
greater  civil  advancement,  the  increase  of  skill  will 
counteract  the  tendency  which  otherwise  the  popula- 
tion might  have  to  outrun  the  means  of  subsistence. 
"The  economical  effect  of  an  increase  of  population 
is  an  augmentation  in  the  supply  of  labour,  and  in  the 
demand  for  its  products.  The  wants  of  the  new- 
comers create  the  new  demand,  and  their  labour  fur- 
nishes the  new  supply.  These  principles  are  too  ob- 


38  POPULATION    RETURNS. 

vious  to  require  any  developement ;  yet  Mr.  Malthus 
seems  either  not  to  have  perceived  them,  or  not  to  have 
kept  them  distinctly  in  view.  He  appears  through- 
out his  work  to  consider  the  increase  of  population 
simply  in  its  effect  upon  the  consumption  of  the 
means  of  subsistence,  without  regarding  its  opera- 
tion upon  their  supply.  He  views  every  individual 
added  to  society  as  an  additional  consumer,  without 
appearing  to  reflect  that  he  is  also  at  the  same  time 
an  additional  labourer.  This  consideration  alone,  if 
properly  estimated,  is  sufficient,  I  think,  to  rectify 
the  whole  theory  of  this  writer,  and  to  refute  its  pa- 
radoxical and  dangerous  parts."* 

But  however  interesting  and  useful  these  specula- 
tions may  be,  we  must,  at  present,  confine  our  atten- 
tion to  the  practical  question  of  the  census  of  the 
United  States,  and,  after  alluding  to  the  efforts  which 
have  been  made  abroad  to  procure  returns  of  the  in- 
habitants, we  shall  give  a  sketch  of  the  progress  of 
inquiry  in  this  country,  and  conclude  with  some  ob- 
servations on  the  next  enumeration  of  the  population. 

Under  the  Roman  Government,  we  have  most 
ample  details  of  the  steps  taken  to  procure  an  accu- 
rate census  of  the  people,  and  a  valuation  of  their 
property.  Servius  Tullius  instituted  the  census  to  be 
taken  every  five  years,  to  ascertain  the  number  of 
the  people,  and  the  fortunes  of  each  individual ;  and 
he  ordained  that  all  the  Roman  citizens,  both  in  town 
and  country,  should,  upon  oath,  take  an  estimate  of 
their  fortunes,  and  publicly  declare  that  estimate  to 
him ;  and  that  they  should  also  tell  the  place  of  their 

*  New  Ideas  on  Population,  with  remarks  on  the  theories  of  Malthus  and 
Godwin,  by  Alexander  Everett— Boston,  1823,  p.  21. 


POPULATION    RETURNS.  39 

abode,  the  names  of  their  wives  and  children ;  and 
their  own  age,  and  that  of  their  children ;  and  the 
number  of  their  slaves  and  freedmen ;  and  if  they 
did  otherwise,  their  goods  should  be  confiscated,  and 
themselves  scourged  and  sold  for  slaves,  as  persons 
who  had  deemed  themselves  unworthy  of  liberty. 
How  invaluable  to  the  Roman  historian  would  such 
a  return  now  be,  and  how  fully  would  it  have  expos- 
ed the  domestic  condition  of  that  people  ;  and  here 
we  remark  how  intimately  they  associated  publicity 
and  freedom  of  investigation,  with  their  liberty  and 
rights  of  citizenship. 

In  France  no  regular  census  was  taken  until  1817, 
27  years  after  this  country  had  set  the  example. 
The  mode  then  observed  was  to  take  the  residents  in 
the  habitation  where  each  resided,  and  then  to  pro- 
ceed with  great  despatch.  In  the  city  of  Paris,  in 
40  days,  700,000  out  of  the  total  population  of 
717,212,  were  obtained;  of  657,172  names  known, 
there  were  305,247  males,  and  351,925  females.* 

In  England,  also,  we  find  no  example  of  an  actual 
census  until  1801,  eleven  years  subsequent  to  the 
first  American  enumeration.  A  Bill  was  introduced 
into  Parliament  in  1753,  for  taking  a  census,  but  it 
was  not  carried  into  effect,  and  it  was  so  late  as  the 
year  1780,  that  Dr.  Price  published  his  celebrated 
treatise  on  annuities,  in  which  he  contended  that 
the  population  of  England  was  decreasing ;  and  that 
it  only  amounted  to  4,763,000  ;  while  subsequent  in- 
vestigation proves  that  it  must  have  been  upwards  of 
seven  millions  at  that  period.  The  disputes  to  which 
this  estimate  of  Dr.  Price  gave  rise,  were  not  termi- 

*  Smithers'  Political  Economy— p.  203. 


40  POPULATION   RETURNS. 

nated  until  the  beginning  of  the  present  centuryv 
when  fortunately  the  British  Government  established 
a  decimal  census  to  be  taken  in  the  year  following  the 
census  of  the  United  States.  One  great  advantage 
to  be  derived  from  this  is,  that  the  British  Govern- 
ment have  it  in  their  power  to  assimilate  their  census 
in  many  respects,  to  the  census  of  this  country ;  and 
by  doing  so,  greatly  to  enhance  the  value  of  both.  It 
is  obvious,  that  in  all  matters  regarding  the  longevi- 
ty, ratio  of  sexes,  and  rapidity  of  increase,  it  is  very- 
desirable  to  know  whether  the  laws  which  regulate 
them,  are  of  universal  application;  or  whether  they 
are  local  in  their  influence ;  and  to  institute  correct 
comparisons,  it  is  necessary  that  the  classification  and 
distribution  of  the  inhabitants  should  proceed  upon 
the  same  principles.  It  maybe  a  subject  of  honest 
pride  to  this  country,  that  the  American  census  has 
always  been  a  more  accurately  and  appropriately  di- 
vided return  of  the  population,  than  the  British  Cen- 
sus ;  as  in  1830,  in  America,  the  males  and  females 
were  each  divided,  according  to  their  ages,  into  13 
compartments ;  while  in  England  they  were  each 
returned  in  aggregate.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
British  census  for  1841,  will  be  made  out  with  more 
creditable  detail ;  and  it  were  very  desirable  that  any 
improvements  introduced  into  the  census  of  this 
country  in  1840,  should  be  copied  into  that  of  Eng- 
land in  1841. 

In  Prussia  a  census  is  taken  every  three  years,  and 
an  accurate  register  of  births  and  deaths  has  been 
kept  since  1820.  Some  few  details  respecting  the 
latter,  are  given  in  the  American  Almanac  for  1839 ; 


POPULATION    RETURNS.  41 

but  we  are  destitute  of  all  particular  information  of 
the  steps  pursued  to  obtain  an  accurate  census. 

It  might  be  well  for  Government  to  procure  from 
the  foreign  Ministers  at  Washington,  or  the  American 
Ministers  abroad,  detailed  accounts  of  the  means  now 
pursued  in  investigating  these  interesting  subjects,  as 
it  might  throw  some  light  both  upon  the  views  which 
actuate  foreign  powers,  in  directing  a  census  to  be 
taken,  and  the  principles  which  regulate  it;  and  it 
might  also  furnish  some  useful  hints  for  the  most 
convenient  mode  of  arranging  the  schedules,  or  con- 
densing the  returns. 

When  we  consider  the  condition  of  this  country  at 
the  close  of  the  American  War,  we  cannot  but  be 
struck  with  the  boldness  of  the  measure,  which  based 
the  principle  of  representation,  upon  an  actual  enu- 
meration of  the  people.  At  a  time  when  England 
was  ignorant  of  her  strength,  and  France  had  not 
counted  her  numbers,  America  embraced  a  constitu- 
tion, which  declared  that  "Representatives  and  direct 
taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among  the  several  states, 
which  may  be  included  within  this  Union,  according 
to  their  respective  numbers,  which  shall  be  deter- 
mined by  adding  to  the  whole  number  of  free  per- 
sons, including  those  bound  to  service  for  a  term  of 
years,  and  excluding  Indians  not  taxed,  three-fifths 
of  all  other  persons.  The  actual  enumeration  shall 
be  made  within  three  years  after  the  first  meeting  of 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  within  every 
subsequent  term  of  ten  years,  in  such  manner  as  they 
shall  by  law  direct."  Such  are  the  terms  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  in  conformity  with  it,  we  find  the  enu- 
meration was  effected  in  1790,  and  fully  completed  in 
6 


42  POPULATION    RETURNS. 

the  beginning  of  1791.  In  looking  through  the  cor- 
respondence of  that  period,  we  find  several  allusions 
to  the  subject,  which  are  remarkable  as  not  express- 
ing any  doubt  as  to  the  practicability  of  obtaining 
the  requisite  returns.  Governor  Jay  says,  "  the  Cen- 
sus is  a  subject,  about  which  much  might,  but  little 
need  be  said,  the  observations  pertinent  to  it  being 
obvious ; "  *  and  General  Washington  thus  writes  Mr. 
Morris,  on  the  same  subject:  f"In  one  of  my  letters 
to  you,  the  account  of  the  number  of  inhabitants, 
which  would  probably  be  found  in  the  United  States 
on  enumeration,  was  too  large.  This  estimate  was 
formed,  by  the  ideas  held  out  by  the  gentlemen  in 
Congress,  of  the  population  of  the  several  States, 
each  of  whom,  (as  was  natural)  looking  through  a 
magnifier,  would  speak  of  the  greatest  extent,  to 
which  there  was  any  probability  of  their  numbers 
reaching.  Returns  of  the  census  have  already  been 
made  from  several  *of  the  States,  and  a  tolerably  just 
estimate  has  been  formed  in  others,  by  which  it  ap- 
pears, that  we  shall  hardly  reach  four  millions;  but 
this  you  are  to  take  along  with  it,  that  the  real  num- 
ber will  greatly  exceed  the  official  returns,  because 
from  religious  scruples,  some  would  not  give  in  their 
lists ;  from  the  apprehension  that  it  was  intended  as 
the  foundation  of  a  tax,  others  concealed  or  dimi- 
nished theirs ;  and  from  the  indolence  of  the  mass, 
and  the  want  of  activity  in  many  of  the  deputy  enu- 
merators, numbers  are  omitted.  The  authenticated 
number,  will  however,  be  far  greater  than  has  been 
allowed  in  Europe,  and  will  have  no  small  influence 
in  enabling  them  to  form  a  more  just  opinion  of  our 

*  Life  of  John  Jay,  by  his  son — ii.  207. 

j  Sparks'  Life  of  Governeur  Morris — vol.  ii.  p.  141. 


POPULATION    RETURNS. 


43 


present  growing  importance,  than  has  yet  been  en- 
tertained there."  And  well  might  the  result  of  the 
enumeration  excite  the  attention  of  Europe,  when 
the  amount  of  population  was  found  to  be  within  less 
than  a  million  of  the  estimated  number  of  the  inha- 
bitants of  England.  We  cannot  but  regard  it  as  a 
striking  proof  of  the  sanguine  temperament  of  the 
times,  that  no  doubt  was  entertained  of  the  practica- 
bility of  the  scheme,  and  when  once  effected,  all 
difficulty  in  the  future  enumerations  disappeared,  and 
we  have  had  now  four  successive  census  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  United  States. 

It  is  gratifying  to  remark  the  gradual  improvement 
which  has  taken  place  in  the  census  since  1790.  It 
may  be  better  to  append  the  formula  in  use,  at  each 
enumeration  of  the  inhabitants,  to  exhibit  the  altera- 
tions that  have  succesively  been  made,  and  it  is 
earnestly  to  be  hoped  that  no  retrogade  movement 
will  ever  be  sanctioned. 

Census  of  1790.    Census  of  1800  and  1 810. 


11 

rt  cL 

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FREK  WHITE 
MALES. 


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FEMALES. 


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Census  of  1 820. 


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MALES. 


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SLAVICS. 


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COLOI'R'P 
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00 


44 


POPULATION    RETURNS.     ' 


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Census  of  1830,  continued. 


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FREE  COLOURED  PERSONS. 


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Slaves  and  col 
ourtil  persons  in- 
cluded   in  ihe 
oregoing. 


In  the  census  of  1790,  the  males  were  divided 
into  two  classes ;  the  females,  slaves,  and  free  blacks 
each  comprised  in  one  class. 

The  census  of  1800,  and  1810,  are  exactly  alike; 
the  males  and  the  females  being  each  divided  into 
five  columns,  the  free  blacks  and  slaves  each  into 
one. 

The  census  of  1820,  differs  only  from  the  enume- 
ration above,  in  the  classification  of  the  whites, — in 
having  those  of  the  males  between  the  ages  of  16 
and  18,  separately  reckoned ;  while  there  is  a  de- 
cided improvement  in  the  distribution  of  the  coloured 
population,  the  male  and  female  of  both  the  free  and 
slave  inhabitants  being  apportioned  into  four  classes. 

The  census  of  1830,  retains  all  these  improve- 
ments, and  adds  many  additional  divisions,  which 
makes  the  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 


POPULATION    RETURNS.  45 

United  States,  as  far  as  the  ages  of  the  people  are 
concerned,  a  very  satisfactory  document.  In  this 
year,  both  the  males  and  females  are  divided  into 
thirteen  columns,  being  enumerated  quinquennially 
till  the  age  of  20,  and  after  that  at  decimal  periods. 
The  coloured  population  is  divided  first  into  four 
classes :  male  and  female  slaves,  male  and  female 
free  coloured  persons,  being  each  separated  into  six 
columns. 

Such  is  a  short  statement  of  what  has  been  done 
by  the  American  government,  and  in  remarking  with 
satisfaction  upon  the  improvement  exhibited  in  the 
last  census,  (1830,)  we  must  with  well-grounded 
assurance,  remember  that  the  individual,  who  then, 
as  secretary  of  State  effected  these  additions,  now 
occupies  a  higher  office,  and  the  student  and  the 
politician  may  alike  expect  his  co-operation  in  any 
scheme  of  amendment. 

Of  the  political  objects  of  the  census,  it  is  not  our 
intention  to  speak,  as  nothing  else  is  required  by  the 
constitution,  than  a  simple  enumeration  of  all  the 
classes  of  individuals,  residing  within  the  limits  of 
any  of  the  states  or  territories,  by  which  to  deter- 
mine the  ratio  of  representation  to  which  each  is 
entitled. 

But  fortunately  the  American  Government  soon 
took  a  higher  view  of  the  inquiries  which  should  be 
instituted  regarding  the  condition  of  her  population, 
and  the  successive  improvements,  as  exhibited  above, 
fully  evince  the  most  enlightened  spirit.  So  complete 
does  the  enumeration  last  made  seem  to  us,  and  so 
accurate  is  the  manner  in  which,  after  a  pretty  close 
examination,  we  may  say  it  is  printed,  that  few  sug- 


46  POPULATION   RETURNS. 

gestions  occur  to  us,  of  any  alterations  necessary, 
and  our  only  hope  is,  that  the  next  census  may  equal 
the  preceding,  in  exactness  and  in  detail. 

In  the  census  for  1820,  it  will  be  observed,  that  all 
youths  between  16  and  18,  are  separately  enume- 
rated; which,  as  showing  more  accurately  the  num- 
bers capable  of  serving  in  the  militia,  and  as  being 
useful  in  discriminating  between  the  adults  and 
youths  engaged  in  manufacture,  we  would  recom- 
mend, that  a  column  re-enumerating  those  between 
15  and  18,  should  be  inserted,  in  the  census  of  1840, 
as  it  was  omitted  in  the  last  census.  Should  this  be 
adopted,  it  might  be  considered  the  age,  on  either 
side  of  which,  men  and  boys  should  respectively  be 
arranged.  The  subject  is  of  no  great  importance, 
but  might  be  serviceable ;  and  of  course  would  be 
executed  on  the  same  principles  as  it  was  done  on 
the  previous  occasion. 

Again,  by  reference  to  the  above  schedule,  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  coloured  persons  from  the  age  of  10 
to  24 — from  24  to  36 — from  36  to  55 — are  each  in- 
cluded in  a  separate  column.  Now  we  are  unable 
to  understand  the  advantages  of  this  arrangement; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  it  strikes  us  as  singularly 
inappropriate,  and  we  are  convinced  that  scarcely 
any  divisions  could  have  been  adopted,  which  would 
have  been  more  unsatisfactory.  It  effectually  pre- 
vents all  comparison  with  the  white  population  at 
different  periods,  for  after  the  age  of  10,  the  divisions 
in  no  instance  agree.  This  is  much  to  be  regretted, 
for  from  some  very  interesting  facts  regarding  the 
coloured  population,  elucidated  by  the  New- York 
Bills  of  Mortality  for  1838,  it  would  seem  that  the 


POPULATION    RETURNS.  47 

two  races  follow  different  laws  as  to  their  diseases, 
and  the  proportion  of  sexes  at  death  at  different  pe- 
riods, and  therefore  it  were  very  desirable  to  examine 
their  condition  at  the  different  ages  of  enumeration. 
But  this  it  is  impossible  to  do,  and  we  regard  it  as 
the  more  to  be  regretted,  as  we  cannot  see  that  any 
information  is  gained  to  compensate  for  this  inability 
of  instituting  a  comparison.  If  it  is  considered  better 
that  the  returns  of  the  coloured  race  should  be  more 
condensed  than  those  of  the  white,  (and  we  think  it 
were  proper  that  it  should  be  so)  let  them  be  divided 
into  two  decimal  periods  till  the  age  of  twenty,  and 
after  that,  into  four  equal  divisions  until  the  age  of 
one  hundred,  (viz. :  under  10 — from  10  to  20 — from 
20  to  40— from  40  to  60— from  60  to  80 — from  80 
to  100 — and  100  and  upwards,)  which  is  only  one 
division  more  than  the  present  arrangement,  and 
would  be  infinitely  more  serviceable. 

With  these  simple  suggestions,  we  dismiss  the 
subject  of  the  population  returns,  intending  under  the 
head  of  vital  statistics,  to  recur  to  those  collateral 
topics,  such  as  ratio  of  increase,  proportion  of  sexes, 
and  proportion  of  births  and  deaths,  which  might 
otherwise  have  occupied  a  place  here.  It  is  exceed- 
ingly satisfactory  to  find  that  our  remarks  are  circum- 
scribed by  the  complete  and  ample  nature  of  the 
present  returns,  which,  if  corrected  in  the  divisions 
of  the  coloured  race,  and  the  addition  of  one  column 
in  the  enumeration  of  the  white  males,  we  would 
consider  as  ample  as  any  occasion  would  require. 
And  it  is  much  to  be  desired,  that  no  alterations 
should  be  introduced,  as  one  principal  feature  of  the 
statistical  value  of  the  census,  is  to  be  able  to  com- 


48  POPULATION    RETURNS. 

pare  the  progress  of  the  population  at  the  several 
epochs  of  enumeration.  From  the  improvements 
introduced  into  the  census  of  1830,  all  comparisons 
with  that  of  1820,  are  rendered  impossible,  as  in  the 
latter,  the  white  population  is  divided  in  every  in- 
stance, after  the  age  of  10,  into  a  different  arrange- 
ment from  that  of  the  former;  and  therefore  we 
cannot  ascertain  the  results  which  a  direct  comparison 
would  exhibit, — as,  for  instance,  Mr.  Booth  dwells 
much  on  the  principle,  an  exceedingly  obvious  one, 
that  the  number  living  in  1830,  between  the  ages  of 
30  and  40,  will,  when  contrasted  with  those  living 
between  the  ages  of  20  and  30,  in  the  previous  cen- 
sus, (1820,)  exhibit  the  mortality  which  has  occurred 
in  the  interval,  if  due  allowance  be  made  for  the 
amount  of  immigration.  Such,  and  many  similar 
comparisons,  would  be  exceedingly  interesting  and 
useful ;  and  while  the  more  perfect  nature  of  the 
latest  returns  do  not  make  us  regret,  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  institute  them  with  former  census,  we  hope 
that  nothing  will  be  introduced  into  the  next  enume- 
ration, to  prevent  the  most  ample  elucidation  of  all 
the  collateral  subjects. 


LI  li.ii  A  K  v 

UNIVK-USITY   OK 

CALIFORNIA. 


PRODUCTS  OF  MANUFACTURES  AND  ARTS, 


IN  no  branch  of  statistical  inquiries  is  minute  atten- 
tion to  the  preliminary  details  of  acquiring  informa- 
tion more  necessary,  and  in  no  department  is  it  more 
difficult.  When  we  consider  the  marvellous  distribu- 
tion of  the  works  of  manufacture,  the  various  combi- 
nations which  are  required  to  render  them  available, 
the  difficulty  of  separating  them  into  distinct  classes, 
and  the  tendency  which  these  classes  have  to  ramify 
into  minute  subdivisions,  it  is  easy  to  foresee  that  any 
general  classification  must  be  a  work  of  great  nicety. 
And  without  a  general  classification  of  returns,  it  is 
impossible  to  arrive  at  any  satisfactory  result;  for 
the  same  species  of  manufacture  may  be  classed 
under  different  heads,  in  different  sections  of  the 
country,  and  if  no  general  rule  is  adopted  for  esti- 
mating their  value,  it  is  impossible  to  reduce  the 
various  returns  to  one  standard  of  value.  But  if  the 
subject  is  surrounded  with  difficulties,  it  is  also 
fraught  with  peculiar  interest.  To  watch  the  rise 
and  progress  of  a  nation's  internal  economy,  to  see  the 
various  channels  which  divert  its  enterprize,  to  remove 
7 


50  PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 

the  obstacles  which  impede  the  natural  progress  of 
improvement,  and  to  note  the  advantageous  results 
which  invariably  flow  from  well  directed  efforts,  is 
at  once  the  highest  duty  of  a  government  and  the 
interesting  study  of  the  statist.  There  are  some  who 
suppose  that  the  prosperity  of  manufactures  will 
proceed  more  certainly  if  unnoticed;  and  who  think 
the  question  is  one  of  purely  individual  interest,  to 
be  determined  upon  the  common  principle  of  profit 
and  loss,  and  one  therefore  about  which  government 
should  not  interest  itself.  But  the  more  correct  pic- 
ture of  the  condition  of  domestic  industry  is  to  con- 
ceive it  as  strongly  resembling  the  human  constitution, 
as  requiring  the  fostering  hand  of  the  parent  during 
its  infancy,  and  if  in  after  life  it  is  to  be  left  more 
to  the  guidance  of  its  own  acquired  impetus,  it  is  at 
the  same  time  to  be  restrained  within  judicious 
bounds. 

It  is  rather  a  difficult  thing  to  give  a  simple  and 
concise  definition  of  the  term  "  Manufactures,"  for 
although  it  conveys  readily  to  the  mind  the  gen- 
eral impression  that  it  is  the  perfecting  of  raw 
materials,  yet  that  is  not  the  sense  in  which  the 
statist  uses  it.  The  settler  in  the  woods  who  splits 
up  a  chestnut  log  may  be  called  a  manufacturer  of 
rails,  but  the  more  proper  definition  and  one  which 
we  would  wish  to  adopt  would  be  "  the  fabrication 
for  wholesale  trade  of  any  species  of  raw  material." 
In  all  countries  there  are  many  species  of  domestic 
industry  which  it  is  impossible  to  form  any  correct 
estimate  of,  in  the  absence  of  excise  laws,  and  even 
then  the  information  is  necessarily  imperfect,  as  the 
trifling  character  of  the  occupation  when  subdivided 


PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURERS    AND    ARTS.  51 

into  the  separate  amount  performed  by  each  family, 
is  so  small  as  almost  to  escape  detection,  for  instance, 
the  knitting  of  stockings  in  winter,  the  making  of 
candles,  or  cider,  are  all  of  a  class  which  elude  the 
grasp  of  the  statist  and  can  only  be  estimated  by 
approximation.  All  domestic  manufactures  we  would 
therefore  exclude  from  this  return,  and  in  excluding 
also  the  retail  trader,  we  would  be  guided  by  the  same 
motive.  It  is  impossible  to  get  any  accurate  report 
of  the  value  of  articles  manufactured  in  the  way  of 
retail  trade,  as  the  number  of  returns  and  the  minute 
divisions  which  they  would  require  to  be  extended  to, 
would  entirely  frustrate  the  end  in  view.  For  instance, 
if  a  village  shoemaker  is  called  a  manufacturer, 
what  sort  of  return  can  he  make,  he  knows  not  how 
many  boots  he  has  made,  nor  the  value  of  those  he 
has  repaired,  but  working  for  minute  gains  he  does 
not  keep  accurate  accounts  of  the  progress  of  his 
business.  On  the  whole  therefore  we  believe  that 
the  term  manufacture  ought  strictly  to  be  applied  to 
articles  intended  for  wholesale  or  export  trade,  and  that 
those  avocations  which  merely  supply  the  locality 
where  they  are  made  are  more  properly  the  product  of 
trades  than  manufactures. 

Limiting  therefore  the  term  manufactures  to  the 
definition  above  given,  we  have  a  most  important  sub- 
ject for  consideration,  and  one  in  which  the  greatest 
care  will  be  necessary  to  extract  from  the  marshals, 
the  requisite  returns.  We  have  stated  above  the 
necessity  of  having  the  returns  adapted  to  one 
standard  for  the  purpose  of  classification  and  com- 
parison, and  to  effect  this,  there  are  certain  general 
principles  which  must  be  kept  in  view.  In  nothing 


52  PRODUCTS    OP    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 

is  the  maxim  in  medio  tutissimus  ibis  more  necessary 
than  in  conducting  investigations  of  this  kind,  as  the 
information  required  must  neither  be  so  minute  and 
particular  as  to  be  vexatious  and  difficult  of  collec- 
tion, nor  so  vague  and  general  as  to  be  without  any 
real  utility. 

A  uniform  schedule  ought  to  be  furnished,  by  which 
the  reports  are  to  be  returned  to  the  department. 

The  classification  should  be  so  general  as  to  in- 
clude all  manufactures  of  nearly  a  similar  descrip- 
tion. 

The  schedules  should  be  so  framed  that  all  the 
answers  may  be  made  by  numerals. 

No  more  returns  should  be  ordered  than  are  ne- 
cessary to  obtain  a  satisfactory  and  distinct  view  of 
the  state  of  the  country. 

We  believe  that  any  one  accustomed  to  statistical 
studies  will  at  once  acquiesce  in  the  correctness  of 
these  principles,  as  no  general  information  can  be 
acquired  when  they  are  disregarded.  Without  wish- 
ing to  throw  any  blame  upon  the  venerable  author  of 
the  returns  in  1820,  it  is  remarkable  that  in  no  par- 
ticular do  they  agree  with  the  principles  laid  down, 
and  it  is  to  their  departure  from  them  that  we  attribute 
the  failure  of  that  investigation.  In  the  letter  of  in- 
structions distributed  by  Mr.  Adams  to  the  marshals, 
after  enumerating  the  divisions  which  were  to  be 
followed  in  regard  to  age,  we  find  the  following  gen- 
eral classification.  "The  discrimination  between 
persons  engaged  in  agriculture,  commerce  and  man- 
ufactures will  not  be  without  its  difficulties.  No  in- 
considerable portion  of  the  population  will  probably 
be  found,  the  individuals  of  which  being  asked  to 


PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS.  53 

which  of  these  classes  they  belong  will  answer  all 
three.  Yet  it  is  obviously  not  the  intention  of  the 
legislature  that  any  individual  should  be  included  in 
more  than  one  of  them  ;  of  those  whose  occupations 
are  exclusively  agricultural  or  commercial  there  can 
seldom  arise  a  question,  and  in  the  column  of  manu- 
facturers will  be  included  not  only  all  the  persons  em- 
ployed in  what  the  art  more  specifically  denominates 
manufacturing  establishments,  but  all  those  artificers, 
handicrafts-men  and  mechanics  whose  labour  is  pre- 
eminently of  the  hand  and  not  upon  the  field." 

"  Besides  this  enumeration  of  manufactures,  the 
marshals  and  their  assistants  are  required,  by  the 
tenth  section  of  the  act  to  take  an  account  of  the 
several  manufacturing  establishments  and  their  manu- 
factures, within  their  several  districts,  territories  and 
divisions,  and  the  meaning  of  the  legislature  by  this 
provision,  is  illustrated  by  the  clause  in  the  oaths  of 
the  marshals  and  their  assistants,  that  they  will  take 
an  account  of  the  manufactures,  except  household  man- 
ufactures, from  which  it  seems  fairly  deducible  that 
in  the  intention  of  the  legislature  persons  employed 
only  upon  household  manufactures  are  not  to  be  in- 
cluded in  the  column  of  persons  bearing  that  denomi- 
nation, the  occupation  of  manufacturing  being  in 
such  cases  only  incidental  and  not  the  profession 
properly  marking  the  class  of  society  to  which  such 
individual  belongs.  This  then  affords  a  criterion  by 
which  your  assistants  may  select  the  column  of  occu- 
pation to  which  each  individual  may  be  set  down,  viz  : 
to  that  which  is  the  principal  and  not  the  occasional 
or  incidental  occupation  of  his  life." 

"  Among  the  papers  enclosed  is  an  alphabetical  list 


54  PRODUCTS    OP    MANUFACTURES   AND    ARTS. 

of  manufactures  which  may  facilitate  the  labours  of 
your  assistants,  but  which  they  will  not  consider  as 
complete.  It  is  intended  to  give  a  direction  to  their 
inquiries  and  each  of  them  will  add  to  it  every  manu- 
facture not  included  in  it,  and  of  which  he  takes 
account  within  his  division.  A  printed  form  is  like- 
wise enclosed  of  inquiries  to  be  made  in  relation  to 
manufacturing  establishments,  on  a  sheet  of  paper 
on  which  the  information  requested  may  be  written 
and  returned."  Although  rather  long  we  subjoin  the 
list  of  queries  referred  to  and  also  the  list  of  manu- 
factures, for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  principles 
upon  which  these  inquiries  were  conducted,  and  we 
believe  it  will  at  the  same  time  convince  the  reader 
that  the  failure  of  these  returns  is  rather  to  be  attribu- 
ted to  the  want  of  adequate  means  being  taken  to 
procure  them  than  to  any  inherent  difficulties  in 
obtaining  the  informational 

*  Questions  to  be  addressed  to  the  persons  concerned  in  Manufacturing  Establish- 
ments, by  the  Marshals  and  their  Assistants  in  taking  the  amount  of  Manu- 
factures : — 

(   1.  The  kind. 
Raw  Materials  employed,.. . .  <    2.  The  quantity  consumed. 

(   3.  The  cost  of  annual  consumption. 
I   4.  Men. 
Number  of  persons  «mpk>yed,  <    5.  Women. 

(   6.  Boys  and  Girls. 

Marino,  i    7«  Whole  quantity  and  kind  of  Machinery. 

nery'  *  * '  * '  I    8.  Quantity  of  Machinery  in  operation.  „ 

{    9.  Amount  of  Capital  invested. 

Expenditures, <  10.  A  mount  annually  paid  for  Wages. 

(11.  Amount  of  contingent  expenses. 

{12.  Nature  and  names  of  Articles  manufactured. 
13.  Market  value  of  Articles  annually  manufactured. 
14.  General  remarks  as  to  the  establishment,  as  to  its  actual 
and  past  condition,  the  demand  for  and  sale  of  its  man- 
ufactures. 

|  An  Alphabetical  List  of  Manufactures. 

Ale  Brass,  in  sheets  Buttons  Carts 

Alum  Brass  manufactures  Cabinet  ware  Cheese 

Anchors  Brazing  copper  Cables  Chocolate 

Ashes— pot  and  pearl  Bread  —  ship,  pilot  Calico  prints  Cider 

Beef  crackers,  &c.  Candles— wax  and  tal-  Clocks 

Beer  Bricks  low,  spermaceti          Clothing— ready-made 

Bells  Bridles  Canes  Coaches,  chaises,    all 

Belts  for  soldiers  Brimstone  Cannon  sorts  of  carriages 

Blacksmiths'  work  Bristles  Cards— playing  Coals 

Blank  books  Brushes  "    —wool  and  cotton  Combs 

Boats  Buckles  Carpets  Coopers'  work 

Bottles  Butter  Cartouch  boxes 


PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 


55 


When  it  is  remembered  that  the  onus  of  taking  the 
census  is  thrown  upon  the  Secretary  of  State  in  addi- 
tion to  his  other  arduous  duties,  it  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at  that  the  schedules  prepared  by  him  should 
exhibit  a  vague  and  undefined  arrangement,  especially 
when  it  is  considered  that  purely  statistical  studies  are 
not  commonly  the  most  interesting  to  men  of  talents, 
and  may  be  classed  rather  among  the  subordinate 
than  principal  qualifications  for  a  federal  office.  It 
is  not  every  mind  that  loves  to  collate  and  consider 
the  various  returns  which  can  be  procured  throughout 
an  extensive  country,  to  arrange  and  classify  these, 
detect  the  errors  and  deduce  the  results,  and  the  wri- 


Alphabetical  List  of  Manufactures — continued. 


Copper   buttons,    and 

Hemp 

Parchment 

Spirits 

other  manufactures 

Hempen  goods 

Pasteboard 

Stained  paper 

of  copper 

Houses 

Pastework 

Starch 

Cordage  —  tarred  and 

Ink 

Pencils 

Stationery 

untarred 

Ink  powder 

Pens 

Staves 

Corks 

Ink  stands 

Perfumery 

Steam  engines 

Cotton  manufactures 

Iron  ware 

Pewter  ware 

Steel  manufactured 

"      yarn 

Iron  —  wrought  and 

Pickles 

Steel,  unwrought 

Crockery  ware 

cast 

Pins 

Stockings—  silk,  cotton, 

Cutlery 

Japanned  ware 

Pocket  books 

thread  and  worsted 

Drugs 
Duck 

Jewelry 
Lace—  gold  and  silver 

Porcelain 
Pork 

Stone  cutting,  manuf. 
Stone  ware 

Dye  stuffs 

Leather—  tanned,  taw- 

Porter 

Straw  manufactures 

Earthen  ware 

ed,  and  dressed 

Potter's  ware 

Sugar 

Embroideries 

Lime 

Printed  books 

Tallow 

Engravings. 
Essences 

Linens,  and  other  ma- 
nufactures of  flax 

Printing  presses 
Printing  types 

Tapistry 
Tar  and  pitch 

Fancy  chairs 

Looking  glasses 

Quills 

Thread 

Feathers 

Lumber—  scanting  and 

Raw  silk 

Tiles 

Fire  arms 

shingles 

Refined  sugar 

Tin  ware 

Fire  engines 

Malt 

Rosin 

Tobacco  manuf. 

Fire  wood 

Maps  and  charts 

Rum 

Toys 

Flax 

Marble  chimney  piers 

Saddles 

Trunks 

Floor  cloths 

Mathematical  "instru- 

Sail cloth 

Turners'  ware  in  ivory, 

Flour 

ments 

Salt 

bone  and  wood. 

Fringes 
Fruits  —  preserved 
Fur  trimmings 

Mercury 
Millinery 
Mill  machinery 

Saltpetre 
Satin 
Sculptured  work 

Turpentine 
Twine  and  pack  thread 
Umbrellas 

Gilt  wares 

Morocco  leather 

Sealing  wax 

Upholstery 

Glass  ware 

Muffs  and  tippets 

Segars 

Varnish 

Gloves  —  silk,  cotton, 

Musical  instruments 

Sewing  silk 

Vellum 

and  leather 

Muskets  and  bayonets 

Ships  and  vessels 

Vitriol 

Glue 

Mustard 

Shot 

Wagons 

Gold,  silver  and  plated 

Nails 

Shoes,  boots,  and  other  Walking  sticks 

ware 

Needles 

manufactures  of  lea 

-  Watches 

Grindstones 

Oil  cloths 

ther. 

Wheelwrights'  work 

Gunpowder 

Oils 

Side  arms 

Whips 

Hair  cloths 

Painters'  colours 

Silks 

Whiskey 

Hair  powder 

Paintings 

Silk  shoes  and  slippers 

Window  glass 

Hams 

Paints 

Skins 

Windsor  chairs 

Hardware 

Paper  hangings 

Slates 

Wood 

Harness 
Hats 

Paper—  writing,  print- 
ing, and  wrapping. 

Snuff 
Soap 

Wooden  ware 
Woollen  manufactures 

Hearth  rugs 

Parasols 

Spinners'  work 

56  PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS, 

ter  who  does  so,  occupies  the  relation  to  the  states- 
man which  the  compiler  of  a  dictionary  does  to  a 
man  of  letters.  In  making  some  few  observations 
therefore  upon  the  errors  committed  in  framing  these 
tables,  and  that  there  was  an  error  the  defective  re- 
turns prove,  we  hope  that  we  will  not  be  accused  of 
wishing  to  impute  unnecessary  blame,  but  simply  to 
have  the  reason 

Amphora  coepit 
Institui ;  currente  rota  cur  urceus  exit  ? 

1st.  No  uniform  schedule  having  been  furnished 
by  the  department,  the  mass  of  information  procured 
in  accordance  with  the  instructions  above  quoted,  is 
of  so  vague  and  discursive  a  character  that  no  gen- 
eral results  can  be  deduced  from  it.  There  are  many 
most  interesting  features  in  the  "  digest  of  accounts  of 
Manufactures  in  the  United  States,"  accompanying  the 
census,  but  the  total  want  of  arrangement  and  classifi- 
cation render  them  valueless,  and  the  indefinite  terms 
used  to  designate  several  interesting  subjects  render 
such  classification  impossible.  It  is  true  that  the  list 
of  queries  given  above  have  formed  the  basis  of  a 
table  into  which  the  information  procured  has  in  the 
department  of  state  been  moulded,  but  the  answers 
so  rarely  apply  to  the  whole  of  the  queries,  in 
general  not  being  more  than  half  filled  up,  that  it  is 
easy  to  see  that  the  form  of  a  list  of  questions  to  be 
verbally  answered  by  the  individual,  and  to  be  noted 
down  according  to  the  discretion  of  the  reporter  with- 
out any  distinct  classification  to  guide  him  is  too  in- 
definite to  be  truly  useful.  We  select  at  random  on 
account  of  its  shortness,  the  return  from  Kent  county, 
Delaware,  by  which  the  vagueness  of  the  answers 
will  be  plainly  seen. 


PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 


57 


Kent  County,  District  of  Delaware. 


i\  ature 
and 
name 
of  arti- 
cle ma- 
il ufac 
tured. 

Market 
value  of 
the  arti- 
cle an- 
nually 
manuf. 

The 
The  kind  quantity 
of  raw  \  of  raw 
material  material 
employ-  annually 
ed.      consum- 
|     id. 

The  cost 
of  raw 
inateri  a 
annually 
consum- 
ed. 

g| 

5 

(Women 
employed. 

•g      whole 
£  T3  j  quan- 
_  Svtity  & 

111  kind 
S  s'ofma- 
>>  »  \  chine- 
Pa        T7- 

quan- 
tity of 
ma- 
chine- 
ry in 
opera- 
tion. 

Amount 
of  capital  in- 
vested. 

Amount 
paid  annually 
for  wages. 

Amount 
of  contingent 
expenses. 

Flour, 
^eath'r 

$     650 
13,200 

Wheat, 

Skins,  ) 
Hides,  } 

$12,800 

6 

10 

" 

3  tan- 
neries. 

In  this  table  so  utterly  defective,  we  find  6  men  are 
engaged  in  the  county  in  making  about  80  bushels  of 
wheat  into  flour,  and  that  10  men  are  employed  in  3 
tanneries,  whose  sole  emoluments  must  consist  in  the 
difference  between  the  value  of  the  raw  material 
used,  and  of  the  manufactured  article  produced,  or 
$400,  no  allowance  being  made  for  the  value  of  the 
tan  pits,  or  bark  employed,  or  other  contingent  ex- 
penses. We  do  not  analyze  this  return  as  a  fair  spe- 
cimen, but  having  selected  it  for  its  brevity,  we  can- 
not withhold  these  comments.  We  have  no  doubt 
but  that  the  reduction  of  the  returns  to  the  form  of 
the  above  extract  was  a  work  of  great  labour,  and  can 
only  regret  that  the  information  obtained,  is  not  com- 
mensurate with  the  task.  By  the  adoption  of  a  uni- 
form schedule,  this  labour  would  have  been  avoided, 
and  at  first  sight  any  defect  in  the  return  would  have 
been  detected,  and  instant  measures  might  have  been 
taken  to  remedy  it,  whereas  the  form  in  which  these 
answers  were  sent  in,  was  necessarily  so  complicated, 
that  no  defect  could  be  detected  till  they  were  reduced 
to  a  tabular  form,  when  probably  the  lapse  of  time, 
and  hurry  of  the- census  for  publication,  would  pre- 

8 


58  PRODUCTS    OP    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 

vent  the  return  being  sent  back  for  correction.     This 
brings  us  to  the 

2d  Consideration,  the  principle  upon  which  the  clas- 
sification should  proceed.  We  are  aware  that  under 
this  head,  the  statist  must  consider  the  amount  of  re- 
muneration the  deputies  are  to  receive ;  as  the  great 
object  to  be  attained  is  accuracy  rather  than  minute- 
ness, and  in  the  returns  before  us,  we  find  that  want 
of  proper  and  adequate  compensation  is  alleged  as 
the  cause  of  the  great  defects,  "  the  compensation 
allowed  by  law  was  esteemed  so  inadequate  for  the 
service  required,  that  it  has  been  found  impossible 
to  obtain  competent  assistants  to  undertake  them."  In 
framing  the  list  of  queries,  this  should  have  been  a 
matter  of  consideration  with  the  Secretary,  and  he 
ought  to  have  limited  the  amount  of  labour  he  re- 
quired, to  the  amount  of  remuneration  previously  fixed 
by  law.  Having  settled  this,  the  next  point  is  to 
arrange  the  great  interests  of  the  country  in  such  a 
way  that  the  returns  may  elucidate  their  relative  im- 
portance. Now  in  the  returns  before  us,  we  by  no 
means  think  that  this  has  been  the  case,  for  setting 
aside  the  objection  which  might  justly  we  think  be 
raised  to  an  alphabetical  arrangement,  we  cannot  but 
be  struck  with  the  undue  importance  given  to  some 
minor  trades,  and  almost  total  silence  regarding  manu- 
factures of  national  importance.  The  whole  woollen 
trade  of  the  country,  with  the  exception  of  carpets 
and  stockings,  is  classed  under  the  general  term 
"Woollen  Manufactures;"  while  it  is  perhaps  the 
most  valuable  trade  to  the  nation  as  well  as  the  most 
difficult  accurately  to  estimate ;  whereas  on  the  other 
hand  we  find  pickles,  preserved  fruits,  chocolate  and 


PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS.  59 

mustard,  each  separately  enumerated  as  among  the 
manufactures  of  the  country.  Now  we  do  not  ob- 
ject to  the  most  minute  details  being  inquired  into,  if 
the  arrangements  to  perfect  such  information  are  ade- 
quate, but  we  cannot  approve  of  such  trivial  subjects 
being  inserted,  while  more  prominent  manufactures 
such  as  zinc,  newspapers,  &c.  are  altogether  omit- 
ted. And  again  in  the  list  above  given  of  manufac- 
tures, we  find  the  terms,  beef,  pork,  and  coal  inserted, 
which  cannot  be  considered  manufactures,  being  agri- 
cultural and  mineral  products,  and  if  they  are  to  be 
included,  on  what  principles  are  fish,  iron  and  gold 
omitted?  But  we  believe  we  have  said  enough  to 
show  that  the  arrangement  is  defective,  and  as  we 
shall  recur  to  the  subject  again,  when  proposing  a 
more  convenient  one,  we  pass  now  to  the 

3d  Consideration,  viz :  that  the  schedules  should 
be  so  framed  as  to  permit  of  being  answered  in  nu- 
merals. The  advantage  of  such  an  arrangement  is 
easily  stated,  and  will  be  readily  perceived.  When 
the  deputies  are  permitted  to  enter  words  in  the  body 
of  the  table,  they  are  apt  to  express  themselves  in- 
definitely for  the  purpose  of  using  shorter  terms,  and 
the  simplicity  of  detail  is  much  retarded  when  there 
is  no  uniformity  in.  the  return.  It  is  only  necessary  to 
look  at  the  tables  referred  to,  to  see  the  confusion 
that  arises  from  the  arrangement,  and  one  instance 
will  suffice,  where  the  different  articles  used  in  a 
manufacture  are  described  as  "  olive  oil,  soda,  tallow, 
barilla,  aromatic  oils,  potash,  pearl-ash,  palm  oil,  ver- 
million,  carmine,  turmeric,  alcohol,  smalt,  copperas, 
&c.,"  which  are  all  used  for  manufacturing  fancy  soap. 
If  a  judicious  classification  be  followed,  it  may  be  so 


60  PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 

arranged  that  the  reporter  has  only  to  insert  in  some 
particular  column  the  amount  of  article  wished  to  be 
expressed  under  a  head  appropriated  to  it.  And 

Lastly,  the  number  of  returns  required  should  be 
as  few  as  possible,  if  the  desired  amount  of  informa- 
tion be  obtained  ;  the  observations  we  have  already 
made  on  the  redundancy  of  the  above  table  are  suffi- 
cient at  present  on  this  subject,  and  we  think  that 
while  the  positions  above  taken  are  simple  and  satis- 
factory, the  returns  ordered  by  the  Secretary,  by  no 
means  accord  with  them.  Having  made  these  obser- 
vations on  the  returns  procured  by  the  Secretary  in 
1820,  we  will  now  proceed  to  the  more  appropriate 
business  of  this  chapter,  viz :  to  show  on  what  prin- 
ciples the  returns  should  be  ordered,  and  how  sched- 
ules might  be  framed  to  embrace  the  requisite  infor- 
mation, with  sufficient  detail,  yet  without  any  unneces- 
sary incumbrances.  And  in  the  above  remarks  we 
almost  fear  we  have  ventured  too  far ;  when  we  re- 
flect upon  the  skill  and.  information  of  the  author  of 
the  digest  of  manufactures,  we  are  inclined  to  mistrust 
ourselves,  and  can  only  hope  that  it  will  not  be  im- 
puted to  arrogance  or  want  of  deference  on  our  part, 
but  to  an  honest  desire  to  promote  the  work  of  sta- 
tistical inquiries  in  this  country. 

The  first  thing  to  be  attended  to  is  the  due  pro- 
portion of  the  remuneration  authorized  by  law,  and 
the  amount  of  service  required  to  perfect  the  returns. 
If  this  is  overlooked,  and  the  number  and  intricacy 
of  the  queries  put  to  the  Deputies,  so  great  that  they 
cannot  answer  them  without  undue  trouble,  it  can- 
hot  be  expected  that  the  returns  will  be  character- 
ized by  accuracy.  If  the  per  capitem  method  of 


PRODUCTS     OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS.  61 

payment  is  adopted  in  this  census,  as  lias  been  done 
hitherto,  it  must  be  remembered  that  to  double  the 
number  of  queries  to  be  put  to  the  inhabitants,  by 
no  means  doubles  the  labour  of  the  Deputy,  as 
having  visited  the  answerer,  the  additional  trouble  of 
inserting  some  further  answers  is  very  trifling.  But 
on  the  other  hand,  some  inducement  must  be  held  out, 
to  increase  the  interest  generally  taken  in  labours  of 
this  kind,  and  the  returns  should  all  be  examined  and 
reported  upon  at  Washington,  when  those  which  are 
defective  can  immediately  be  transmitted  to  the  dis- 
trict Marshal  for  correction,  and  a  discretionary 
power  should  be  left  with  the  department  to  recom- 
pense the  Marshals  according  to  the  care  bestowed 
upon  their  returns,  by  rating  them  in  certain  estab- 
lished tariffs.  In  another  part  of  these  observations 
we  purpose  alluding  to  the  duties  of  the  Marshals 
and  their  remuneration,  but  here  wish  merely  to  refer 
to  the  necessary  connection  between  the  work  per- 
formed, and  the  compensation  for  the  trouble  it  oc- 
casions. 

It  has  been  our  object  in  framing  the  following 
tables,  to  select  the  more  prominent  objects  of  na- 
tional industry,  and  by  arranging  them  in  a  succinct 
manner  and  adapting  a  few  leading  queries  to  each 
separate  manufacturer,  to  afford  a  ready  means  of 
elucidating  facts.  The  number  of  queries  which  we 
have  put,  might  have  been  much  increased,  and 
much  more  accurate  and  minute  information  might 
have  been  aimed  at,  but  perhaps  the  remuneration 
likely  to  be  awarded  for  the  trouble  incurred,  will 
not  warrant  a  more  extended  list  of  queries.  Should 
the  department  think  that  the  compensation  would 


62  PKODUCTS     OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 

warrant  more  minute  returns,  it  will  be  easy  to  ex- 
tend the  tables  we  subjoin,  fur  we  have  gone  on  the 
principle,  that  it  is  far  more  difficult  to  condense  than 
to  amplify,  and  have  preferred  the  briefest  schedule 
which  would  be  satisfactory,  to  a  more  ample  and 
extended  table  of  all  the  collateral  subjects  connect- 
ed with  each  trade. 

The  general  arrangement  which  is  followed,  ex- 
hibit a  sufficiently  connected  view  of  the  various 
leading  manufactures  in  this  country,  using  that 
term  in  its  most  extended  meaning.  It  begins  with 
the 

Product  of  Mines. 

Iron — the  ore  in  its  different  manufactures. 
Gold 
Lead 

Other  Metals 

Salt — the  manufacture  of,  from  brine,  &c. 
Coal — bituminous,  the  produce  of  mines  in  theU.  S. 
"     Anthracite 

Manufacture  of  the  Metals. 

Iron — the  various  leading  uses  of  this  metal. 
Various  metals 
Precious  metals 

Manufactures  on  the  Loom. 

Cotton, 

Wool, 

Hemp  or  Flax, 

Silk, 

Mixture  of  above  materials. 


PRODUCTS     OF     MANUFACTURES    AND     ARTS.  63 

General  Manufacture  of 
Hats, 
Leather, 

Soap  and  Candles. 
Distilled  and  fermented  liquors, 
Glass  and  earthenware, 
Sugar,  LI&BA 

Paper,  ,^   ;  —   j 

Cables  and  Cordage, 
Drugs — paints,  &c. 
Pleasure  Carriages. 

Such  is  the  general  arrangement  which  might  be 
adopted,  and  which  would  enable  the  Marshals  to 
classify  each  branch  of  industry  under  its  appropri- 
ate head,  and  having  effected  this,  we  hope  the  ac- 
companying schedules  will  be  found  to  coincide  with 
the  four  general  principles  we  referred  to,  the 
importance  of  which  are,  we  think,  sufficiently  illus- 
trated in  the  remarks  on  the  census  of  1820. 

In  the  accompanying  tables  the  leading  queries, 
though  they  vary  to  conform  to  the  actual  condition 
of  each  trade,  refer  first,  to  the  number  of  establish- 
ments for  carrying  on  any  particular  work,  as  from 
this  return  we  will  be  able  to  find  the  comparative 
size  of  the  establishments  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  and  the  tendency  which  certain  trades  have 
to  "  centralize  "  themselves  into  large  manufactures. 

Secondly,  The  value  of  the  raw  material  used  in 
the  manufacture,  which  must  include  the  outlay  of 
the  manufacturer  for  all  material  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  article  he  produces,  and  here  we 


64      PRODUCTS  OF  MANUFACTURES  AND  ARTS. 

must  introduce  some  very  correct  remarks  of  Mc- 
Culloch : 

"  It  is  supposed  by  many  that  whatever  may  be 
the  annual  value  of  our  manufactured  goods,  we 
shall,  by  adding  it  to  the  annual  value  of  our  agri- 
cultural products,  get  the  total  value  of  the  new 
commodities  annually  produced  in  the  empire.  But 
this  is  an  error.  The  value  of  the  British  wool, 
for  example,  employed  in  the  woollen  manufacture 
may  amount  to  from  £5,500,000  to  £6,000,000,  and 
forms  an  item  of  this  amount"  in  estimating  the  value 
of  the  manufacture.  It  is  plain  however,  that  if  we 
include  this  wool  in  any  estimate  of  the  agricultural 
produce  of  the  country  we  must  exclude  it  from  its 
manufactured  produce,  for  if  we  do  not  it  will  be 
reckoned  twice  over.  The  same  thing  happens  in  a 
vast  variety  of  cases.  Again,  very  many  manufac- 
tured articles,  such  as  beer,  spirits,  coaches,  &c., 
consist  principally  of  other  manufactured  articles, 
the  value  of  which  must  necessarily  be  deducted  to 
learn  the  new  or  additional  value  which  the  peculiar 
manufacture  adds  to  the  wealth  of  the  country. — 
Hence  the  extreme  difficulty  of  forming  any  fair  es- 
timate of  the  real  value  of  any  species  of  manufac- 
tures. It  is  necessary  in  order  to  specify  the  nett 
addition  made  by  any  manufacture  to  the  mass  of 
valuable  products,  to  detach  from  it  the  value  of  the 
raw  produce  and  the  other  manufactured  articles  em- 
bodied in  it." — Statistical  account  of  tlie  British  Em- 
pire, Vol.  II.  p.  139. 

Thirdly,  The  value  of  the  product — or  in  other 
words,  the  market  value  of  the  article  manufactured, 
at  the  nearest  market,  which  would  embrace  the 


PRODUCTS    OP    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS.  65 

whole  returns  which  the  manufacturer  receives  as 
the  product  of  his  labour,  on  all  descriptions  of 
articles. 

Fourthly,  No.  of  persons  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture. In  some  of  the  trades  it  is  advisable  to  appor- 
tion the  work  people  into  three  classes,  males, 
females,  persons  under  15 — all  others  being  included 
in  the  other  classes.  Fifteen  is  perhaps  too  young 
an  age  to  include  the  number  of  boys,  but  as  the 
general  census  makes  a  division  at  that  age  it  will 
be  found  advisable  to  do  so  here  also.  In  addition 
to  the  information  which  we  have  included  in  the 
schedules  there  are  two  branches  of  inquiry  which 
we  would  like  to  pursue,  the  one  is  the  rate  of  wages, 
the  other  the  aggregate  time  of  work  in  a  year ;  we 
have  thought  it  better  to  omit  these,  doubtful  whether 
they  would  be  satisfactorily  answered,  but  if  they 
are  inserted  they  would  add  much  to  the  value  of 
the  returns,  and  enable  the  statesman  to  contrast  the 
different  manufactures  in  this  country  with  those  in 
foreign  parts,  and  to  trace  the  effects  which  different 
wages  and  a  different  climate  exercise — by  the  ag- 
gregate time  we  mean  the  whole  number  of  days' 
work  performed  in  each  manufactory. 

Fifthly,  Invested  Capital.  Under  this  head  much 
latitude  must  be  allowed,  as  it  is  impossible  to  get 
accurate  returns  from  men,  who  are  anxious  perhaps 
to  conceal  their  real  capital  either  from  a  fear  of 
taxation,  or  of  having  their  limited  means  made 
known;  but  generally  it  would  embrace  all  the 
money  laid  out  in  land,  buildings,  machinery,  and 
other  similar  expenses. 

9 


66  PRODUCTS    OP    MANUFACTURES   AND    ARTS. 

Of  Mines  and  Minerals. 

L  First  in  the  order  of  manufactures  stands  the 
production  of  any  raw  material  from  the  magazines 
of  nature,  where  the  skill  of  man  is  only  required  to 
appropriate  the  wealth  stored  up  for  his  use.  It  is 
to  the  mineral  wealth  of  Britain  that  we  must  look 
for  the  elements  of  her  prosperity,  and  if  the  same 
prosperity  does  not  follow  in  this  country  the  posses- 
sion of  a  large  extent  of  hoarded  treasure,  it  must 
arise  from  other  causes  than  the  physical  difficulty 
of  rendering  it  available.  In  no  country  under 
heaven,  is  it  believed,  that  greater  resources  present 
themselves,  as  all  the  necessary  accompaniments  of 
mining  operations  exist  in  abundance ;  and  the  fuel, 
the  water  power,  the  native  and  conveniently  sitn 
ated  ore,  the  water  carriage,  and  the  demand,  alike 
call  for  increased  exertions,  in  this  most  certain 
means  of  adding  to  a  nation's  wealth.  A  knowledge 
of  the  mineral  wealth  existing  in  this  country  is 
likely  to  be  soon  laid  before  the  public  by  the  differ- 
ent geological  surveys  at  present  in  operation ;  and  the 
value  of  material  produced,  the  amount  of  labor  ex- 
pended, and  other  serviceable  information,  may 
easily  be  procured  in  the  course  of  taking  the 
census. 

1.  Iron.  "No  one,"  says  Cleaveland,  "who  ex- 
amines the  universal  and  abundant  diffusion  of 
iron,  the  most  important  of  the  metals,  can  disre- 
gard so  strong  an  indication  of  the  benevolence  of 
the  Creator."  It  were  out  of  place  here  to  do 
more  than  refer  to  the  extent  of  the  manufacture  of 
this  metal  in  this  country,  though  the  immense  na- 


PRODUCTS     OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS.  67 

tional  benefit  which  might  result  from  some  extensive 
experiments  on  the  possibility  of  preparing  the  metal 
from  the  ore  by  means  of  anthracite  coal,  naturally 
attracts  our  attention.  The  quality  of  iron  seems  to 
depend,  more  upon  the  fuel  used  in  its  reduction,  than 
upon  any  inherent  character  in  the  ore,  and  it  is  be- 
lieved that  no  iron  is  superior  to  that  produced  in 
this  country,  though  the  expense  of  production  is 
such  as  to  enable  foreign  iron  to  interfere  greatly 
with  the  manufacture,  in  spite  of  a  heavy  rate  of 
duty.  The  iron  made  in  this  country  is  generally 
the  product  of  charcoal,  or  as  it  is  termed  in  the 
country  "  coal,"  and  this  used  formerly  to  be  the 
only  fuel  used  in  England,  and  is  still  employed  in 
the  manufacture  of  the  Swedish  and  Russian  iron. 
In  England,  the  rapid  consumption  of  the  timber 
caused  great  alarm,  and  the  exportation  of  iron  was 
prohibited  atone  time,  till  in  1740  a  method  of  pre- 
paring the  bituminous  coal  for  the  purpose  of  smelt- 
ing iron  was  revived,  and  since  then,  prepared  coal, 
or  coke,  has  entirely  superseded  the  use  of  wood  in 
that  country,  and  rendered  available  vast  resources  of 
national  wealth.  In  this  country  the  fear  of  the 
failure  of  the  supply  of  timber  is  not  likely  to  create 
alarm,  though  on  the  banks  of  navigable  streams  or 
near  water  carriage,  the  supply  is  rapidly  diminishing, 
but  the  expense  of  this  mode  of  preparing  the  metal 
is  such  as  to  prohibit  the  manufacture  of  iron  for  the 
common  purposes  of  trade,  and  its  superior  quality 
alone  enables  it  to  maintain  its  place  in  the  market. 
There  are  natural  depots  of  the  most  valuable  ore  in 
juxtaposition  with  immense  and  inexhaustible  beds 
of  natural  fuel,  which  only  require  the  fostering 


68  PRODUCTS     OF     MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 

hand  of  Government  and  the  aid  of  chemical  science, 
to  enable  their  produce  to  bear  down  all  foreign 
competition,  and  perhaps  even  to  enter  the  commercial 
world  as  a  competitor  in  foreign  markets.  The  mine- 
ral products  of  Pennsylvania  are  so  immense  that  no 
calculation  can  be  made  of  what  they  might  yield  if 
any  means  of  fusing  the  ore  with  anthracite  coal 
could  be  discovered,  and  it  is  an  object  well  worthy 
of  the  attention  of  Government,  as  the  nature  of  the 
required  experiments  are  such  as  preclude  accurate 
investigation  by  individuals,  and  would  perhaps  re- 
quire a  considerable  outlay  before  the  proper  mode 
of  burning  the  fuel,  the  proper  flux,  and  the  due  pro- 
portions of  the  ore  could  be  discovered ;  and  there  is 
no  object  which  could  more  properly  be  called  a 
national  one. 

It  is  easy  to  speculate  what  the  iron  trade  in  this 
country  might  become,  it  is  difficult,  we  may  add 
impossible,  at  present  to  say  what  it  is.  Before  the 
revolution,  the  manufacture  of  iron  was  one  of  the 
few  branches  of  industry  which  prevailed,  and 
since  that  period  the  greatest  exertions  have 
been  required  to  sustain  it.  We  give  from  three 
sources,  estimates  of  the  condition  of  this  important 
manufacture  which  will  too  readily  show  the  utter 
impossibility  of  ascertaining  its  present  condition. 
"There  were  in  1810,  no  less  than  530  furnaces, 
forges  and  bloomeries  in  the  United  States,  of  which 
69  were  in  the  State  of  New  York."*  Turning  next 
to  the  journal  of  the  New  York  Convention,  in  1831, 
a  work  which  rather  inclines  to  overstate  than  to 

*  Dr.  Beck's  Address  before  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Useful  Arts, 
Albany,  1813. 


PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 


69 


under  estimate  the  amount  of  manufactures,  we  find 
the  following  tables  as  a  fair  exhibition  of  the  state 
of  the  iron  trade. 

From  partial  returns  the  Committee  estimate  the  quantity  of  Iron  made  in  the 
United  States,  as  follows :— 


Years. 

Furnaces. 

Tons  of  Pig  Iron. 

Tons  of  Castings. 

Total  Pig  Iron  and  Castings. 

1828 
1829 
1830 

192 
192 
202 

90368 
98,234 
118,620 

33,036 
36,720 
36,728  - 

123,404 
134,954 
155,348 

General  recapitulation  of  the  Iron  Trade  in  1831. 


By  the  Report. 

Supplementary 
Returns. 

Total. 

Bar  Iron  made  in  the  U.S.,  tons 
Pig  Iron,  whole  quantity  being  com-  > 

96,621 
163,542 

16,245 
27,994 

112,866 
191,536 

Value  

$13  329  760 

24  979 

8  776  420 

And  to  complete  the  contradiction  which  these  re- 
ports present,  we  have  the  returns  made  in  1835,  at 
the  time  the  census  of  the  State  of  New  York  was 
taken,  which  represent  the  condition  of  this  trade  as 
being  at  that  time, 

Iron  Manufacture  in  the  State  of  New-York,  in  1835. 


No.  of  Iron  Works,  

293 

$2  366  065 

Value  of  Manufacture,  

4,349,949 

in  that  state.  From  these  contradictory  statements 
nothing  satisfactory  can  be  gleaned,  and  it  were  much 
to  be  desired  that  the  value  and  activity  of  this  manu- 
facture were  properly  appreciated.  There  can  be  no 
real  difficulty  in  procuring  the  returns  from  every 
furnace  of  the  amount  of  iron  made,  and  cost  of  ma- 
king it,  with  other  particulars  comprised  in  the  table 
which  we  subjoin, — which  would  present  a  complete 
and  satisfactory  view  of  this  source  of  wealth.  Any 
further  observations  on  this  subject  would  be  out  of 


TO  PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 

place  at  present  and  only  swell  unnecessarily  the 
length  of  this  head,  we  therefore  conclude  by  giving 
an  interesting  estimate  of  the  consumption  caused  by 
the  manufacture  of  each  ton  of  iron.  It  is  taken 
from  the  report  of  the  convention  already  referred 
to,  but  with  what  accuracy  it  is  made,  it  is  impossible 
to  determine. 

Estimate  of  the  Consumption  occasioned  by  the  Manufacture  of  each  Ton  of  Iron. 


20  Bushels  Wheat  and  Rye  at ~ 75  cents 

57  Ibs.  Pork... 5      " 

43  Ibs.  Beef 4      « 

10  Ibs.  Butter 12^    " 

2  Bushels  Potatoes 30      " 

i  Ton  of  Hay $7  00      " 

Tare  and  ware  of  horses 

Fruit  and  vegetables 


$15  00 

2  85 
1  72 
1  25 

0  60 

3  50 

1  43 
1  00 


$27  35 


The  quantity  of  iron  imported,  as  reported  to  the 
Custom  House,  is  as  follows : 

Import  of  Iron  during  the  last  year  1836-1837. 


PIGS England 127,513  cwt $  203,001 

"  Scotland 38,291  «  62,018 

BAR Russia 146,258  «  390,616 

"  Sweden 406,637  «  1,222,762 

«  Denmark 6,394  "  18,081 

"  England 65,098  "  156,308 

"  Hansetowns 14,429  "  40,553 

Waking  a  total  of  658,752  cwt.,  valued  at  $1,891,214. 


2.  Lead.  Next  in  importance  to  the  manufacture 
of  iron,  stand  the  Lead  Mines  in  this  country,  which 
if  not  so  abundantly  diffused,  are  generally  more 
easily  wrought  than  the  former.  It  is  needless  again 
to  reiterate  that  we  are  in  entire  ignorance  of  any 
details  or  accurate  estimate  of  the  present  condition 
of  this  manufacture.  Valuable  lead  mines  exist  in 
Louisiana,  Virginia  and  Illinois,  and  extensive  and 
prolific  beds  of  the  finest  quality  of  ore  have  lately 
been  discovered  in  the  northern  parts  of  New  York, 
in  addition  to  the  other  localities  in  which  it  was 


PRODUCTS    OP     MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS.  71 

formerly  known  to  exist  in  that  State,  and  several 
valuable  beds  occur  in  New  England.  But  the 
value  of  this  source  of  national  wealth  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  estimate.  The  lead  mines  on  the  upper 
Mississippi  belong  to  the  General  Government, 
though  latterly  they  have  been  very  much  re- 
duced—by sales  of  land  containing  the  ore,  to 
settlers ;  but  we  find  that  the  total  amount  of  lead 
obtained  when  they  were  most  productive,  was 
in  1829— 14,541,310  Ibs.  or  about  (at  6c.)  $872,478. 
The  value  of  foreign  pig,  bar,  and  sheet  lead  imported 
into  this  country  in  1837,  was  $13,871.  We  be- 
lieve that  the  manufacture  of  this  valuable  metal  is 
conducted  in  the  most  inartificial  manner,  and  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  the  Marshals  to  procure  ac- 
curate statistics  regarding  the  number  of  smelting 
houses  in  use,  as  the  "diggings"  in  Illinois  are  of 
so  temporary  a  nature,  and  present  so  little  of  a  per- 
manent character,  as  not  to  be  worthy  of  enumera- 
tion. The  amount  of  metal  manufactured  can  how- 
ever, be  ascertained,  and  the  number  of  persons 
engaged  in  the  manufacture,  together  with  the 
average  per  centage  of  metal  which  the  ore  furnishes, 
and  it  may  be  possible  that  we  are  in  error  in  our 
estimate  of  the  temporary  character  of  the  buildings, 
and  that  they  may  also  be  worthy  of  enumeration. 
The  following  table  of  the  imports  of  lead  from  the 
interior,  by  the  Mississippi  river,  is  taken  from  Hall's 
Statistics  of  the  West,  and  shows  the  gradual  im- 
provement in  the  production  of  that  article,  as  of 
course  all  the  increased  consumption  in  the  interior 
during  that  period  must  be  deducted. 


72 


PRODUCTS    OP    MANUFACTURES    AND   ARTS. 


Import  of  Lead  into  New  Orleans  from  the  Interior — Hall's  Statistics,  278. 


1825 

1826 

(1827 

1828 

1829 

1830 

1831 

151.2M 
2022 

1832 

1833 

1834 

J^-pig  P'gs 
La—  bar  kgs  bxs 
Lead    *  Ibs. 

68479 
306 
198,244 

86.242 
473 
190292 

106,405 
1299 

183,712 
471 

146,203 
792 
409,641 

354,805 
2034 

122,933 
363 
245,600 

180,062 
2964 
244,000 

203,100 
429 

Under  fhis  head  the  production  of  the  crude  metal 
would  only  be  estimated,  whether  in  pigs,  bars,  or 
sheets,  and  the  various  pigments  and  other  manufac- 
tures of  lead  will  be  enumerated  under  another  return. 

3.  Gold.  The  value  of  this  branch  of  industry 
can  more  easily  be  ascertained  than  that  of  either 
of  the  other  metals,  as  a  large  proportion  of  the 
native  gold  is  sent  to  the  mint  to  be  assayed  or 
coined.  When  the  project  of  establishing  other 
coining  establishments  throughout  the  country  was 
proposed,  Mr.  Verplanck,  as  chairman  of  a  Committee 
of  Congress,  tried  to  procure  some  information  in 
relation  to  the  infant  trade,  but  the  data  returned 
were  sufficiently  indistinct,  arid  the  following  answer 
to  a  simple  query,  is  not  an  unfair  specimen  of  the 
information  received. 

Query  ?  What  amount  of  gold  was  found  during 
last  year,  1830. 

"  Ans.  I  give  it  as  my  opinion  that  it  is  next  to  im- 
possible even  to  approximate  the  truth  in  this  par- 
ticular." 

In  that  year  the  amount  was  estimated  to  be  about 
half  a  million ;  now,  however,  it  is  said  that  two  mil- 
lions, are  produced,  and  in  some  parts  of  the  country 
(Virginia)  active  operations  are  in  progress  to  in- 
crease the  amount.  Whether  it  is  an  advisable 
branch  of  industry,  whether  it  is  likely  to  promote 
the  morals  and  happiness  of  the  persons  engaged  in 
it,  or  whether  from  its  hazardous  character,  and 


PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES     AND    ARTS.  73 

great  pecuniary  risk  it  is  not  likely  to  unsettle  the 
native  population,  are  questions  which  we  cannot 
consider,  but  the  details  of  this  source  of  wealth 
ought  to  be  laid  before  the  public,  in  order  that 
they  may  appreciate  its  national  importance. 

4.  Other  Metals.     Under  this  head  we  would  in- 
clude the  several  metals  which  are  procured  in  small 
quantities  in  this  country,  such  as  Zinc,  which  occurs 
in  New  Jersey,  and  might  be  profitably  worked  to  a 
much    greater    extent;      Copper,    which    is    to  be 
found  in  Maryland,  and  was  formerly  worked  to  a 
great  extent  in  New  Jersey;  Plumbago,  which  is  very 
generally  diffused ;    Iron  pyrites,   which  was  much 
used  in  the  last  war  for  manufacturing  vitriol,    and 
all  other  metals  which  are  worked  to  any  extent  in 
this  country,  might  be  included  under   this  general 
division. 

5.  Leaving  then  the  metallic,  let  us  pass  on  to  the 
mineral  produce  of   mines — Salt.     We    are    again 
called  upon  to  express  our  gratitude  for  the  ever- 
merciful  provisions  of  a  kind  Providence,  as  this  ne- 
cessary article  is  to  be  found  in  every  part  of  the 
country,  and  forms  in  some  of  the  states  a  principal 
source  of  revenue.     The  general   government  has 
retained  also,  in  some  parts  of  the  west,    the  salt 
mines  as  a  source  of  income,  and  where  the  mines 
are     possessed    either   by   the   general   or  a    state 
government,  the  returns  may  be  more  satisfactorily 
obtained,  by  a  reference  to  the  respective  treasurer's 
books,  than  an  examination  by  the  deputies  on  the 
spot, — but  there  are  many  works  scattered  through- 
out  the  country  wbich  it  would  be  highly  advan- 
tageous to  have  correctly  reported,  along  with  the 

10 


74  PRODUCTS    OF   MANUFACTURES   AND   ARTS. 

average  expense  of  production.  There  is  a  species 
of  salt  made  in  the  eastern  states  by  evaporation 
from  the  sea  water,  which,  although  it  does  riot  pro- 
perly fall  under  this  head,  may  more  conveniently  be 
here  enumerated.  It  is  carried  on  to  a  great  extent, 
and  in  some  of  the  towns  in  Massachusetts  800  per- 
sons are  employed  in  its  manufacture.  The  expense 
of  this  mode  of  obtaining  it  will  form  an  interesting 
comparison  with  the  product  cf  the  salt  springs  in 
the  interior,  and  it  is  believed  that  no  rock  salt  is 
worked  in  any  part  of  this  country,  though  it  is 
highly  probable  that  such  may  be  discovered.  Not- 
withstanding, however,  the  immense  number  of  places 
where  salt  abounds  in  a  natural  state  in  this  country, 
there  is  a  very  large  importation  of  salt  from  foreign 
ports;  the  amount  in  1836  was  5,088,666  bushels, 
valued  at  $724,527.  There  are  no  means  of  esti- 
mating correctly  the  consumption  of  this  article 
throughout  the  country,  which  however  Mr.  Williams 
in  his  New  York  Almanac,  1836,  states  to  be  "  about 
12,000,000  of  bushels,  which,  deducting  the  importa- 
tion for  that  year,  would  give  about  5,000,000  as  the 
production  of  this  country,  and  two-fifths  of  the  total 
quantity  made  in  the  United  States,  and  over  one- 
sixth  of  the  consumption  of  the  same  was  produced 
at  the  Onondaga  Springs  in  New  York  State." 

6.  Coal.  This  mineral  substance  is  naturally 
divided  into 

1st.  Bituminous  Coal.  Perhaps  no  country  in  the 
world  can  boast  of  more  extensive  coal  mines,  more 
widely  diffused,  and  more  accessible  than  this, 
even  although  the  coal  formation  of  Wales 
is  estimated  as  sufficient  to  supply  the  present  con- 


PRODUCTS   OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS.  75 

sumption  of  coal  in  England  for  2000  years.  Of  the 
value  and  availability  of  the  coal  formation  nothing 
almost  is  known,  and  we  are  obliged  to  be  satisfied 
with  vague  conjectures,  while  the  bulky  nature  of  the 
article  mast  make  the  procuring  of  statistics  regard- 
ing it,  a  very  simple  matter.  Bituminous  coal 
abounds  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and 
other  southern  states,  appears  again  in  Ohio,  and  all 
along  the  banks  of  that  river,  and  seems  to  underlie 
the  whole  state  of  Illinois.  But  further  than  this,  it  is 
impossible  to  know  how  valuable  this  mineral  rea.lly 
is  to  this  country,  as  no  details  of  the  extent  to  which 
it  is  used  exist,  and  the  few  notices  which  might  be 
collected  about  the  present  coal  trade  are  too  much 
imbued  with  interested  representations  to  be  im- 
plicitly relied  on.  The  Virginia  mines  are  believed 
to  be  more  extensively  worked  than  any  others 
partly  from  being  nearer  the  coast,  and  partly  from' 
their  being  situated  in  an  old  settled  country  where 
wood  is  no  longer  very  abundant ;  and  the  dealers  in- 
terested in  the  mines  there,  after  enumerating  the 
numerous  public  works  to  which  they  have  given 
rise,  say,*  "  this  great  interest  has  advanced  in  a  very 
short  period  to  its  present  magnitude ;  previous  to 
1820  it  is  believed  that  the  whole  exports  from  Vir- 
ginia did  not  exceed  500,000  bushels ;  in  the  year 
1835  the  amount  exported  from  Richmond  to  differ- 
ent ports  in  the  United  States  had  attained  to  about 
8,500,000  bushels  with  a  supply  to  the  home  market 
of  nearly  1,000,000."  The  mining  upon  the  upper 
parts  of  the  Ohio  is  very  extensive,  and  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  State  of  Ohio  great  quantities  are  pro- 

*  Executive  documents,  2d  Session,  24th  Congress.    No.  93. 


76  PRODUCTS    OP     MANUFACTURES   AND    ARTS. 

cured,  and  a  large  proportion  is  sent  to  Cleaveland  for 
water  carriage,  but  of  the  amount  so  exported,  no 
register  exists  that  we  know  of.  The  probable  in- 
crease of  this  trade,  the  source  of  national  wealth  it 
holds  out,  can  never  fairly  be  estimated  till  its  pre- 
sent condition  is  more  accurately  ascertained.  The 
amount  of  foreign  coal  brought  into  this  country  is 
very  great,  and  is  reported  in  1836  as  being 
From  England,  81 1,400  bushels. 

Scotland,      65,835 

Ireland,        26,312 
British  America,  2,097,668 

Making  a  sum  total  of  3,036,083  bushels,  valued  at 
$244,995,  being  less  in  the  aggregate  than  that  pro- 
duced by  Virginia 

2.  Anthracite  Coal.  This  "hard  coal,"  as  it  is 
called,  has  no  foreign  competitor,  and  is  produced 
almost  exclusively  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania, 
although  Rhode  Island  also  sends  a  little  into  the 
market.  From  the  extensive  nature  of  the  improve- 
ments which  have  been  undertaken  to  brino-  the 

o 

Schuylkill  and  Lehigh  coals  into  the  market,  more 
publicity  is  given  to  their  products,  and  the  general 
nature  of  their  operations,  but  little  of  the  character 
of  pure  statistical  information  is  known  about  them, 
out  of  the  state  where  they  are  situated.  In  the 
year  1834  there  were  376,000  tons  of  Anthracite  coal 
sent  from  the  three  principal  mining  districts  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  from  the  same  places  in  1836 
there  were  mined  and  sent  away  682,000  tons,  show- 
ing an  increase  in  the  production  far  beyond  the  cal- 
culations of  the  most  sanguine.  In  the  last  men- 
tioned season  the  price  for  several  months  was  $2 


PRODUCTS    OP    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS.  77 

to  $2,25,  after  that,  it  rose  with  the  rise  of  the  wages 
of  miners  and  labourers,  to  $2,50  to  $2,75,  and  in 
the  last  days  of  the  season  was  up  at  $3,50  ;  but  at 
that  time,  miners  were  receiving  from  $2,50  to  $3  a 
day."  Of  the  importance  of  this  trade  to  the  navi- 
gating interest,  some  idea  may  be  formed  from  the 
fact  that  there  have  sailed  from  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  5,000  vessels  laden  with  coal,  whose 
freight  must  have  amounted  to  above  a  million  of 
dollars.*  Several  extensive  works  of  internal  im- 
provement have  been  entered  upon  for  the  transpor 
tation  of  this  coal — viz.  to  the  Schuylkill  and 
Lehigh  canals,  the  Morris  canal,  the  Beaver  Meadow 
rail-road,  the  Delaware  canal  and  other  minor  works. 
In  remarking  on  the  relative  importance  of  the  two 
coal  trades,  the  bituminous  and  anthracite,  it  is 
necessary  to  observe  that  the  one  is  reported  in  tons 
and  the  other  in  bushels.  Now  in  reducing  the  tons 
to  bushels  it  would  be  well  to  have  a  uniform  stan- 
dard, and  if  one  ton  of  anthracite  were  considered 
as  equal  to  28  bushels,  we  believe  we  would  not  be 
led  into  much  error,  though  perhaps  a  fully  large 
estimate. 

Such  then  are  the  mineral  products  of  this  coun- 
try, and  we  believe  we  make  no  rash  assertion  when 
we  say,  that  no  account  exists  of  the  condition  of  this 
branch  of  national  industry,  and  it  were  therefore 
well  to  investigate  this  most  abiding  source  of  wealth 
by  actual  survey. 

The  following  schedule  might  perhaps  be  a  satis- 
factory one  for  having  the  requisite  information  re- 
turned to  the  department. 

•  Senate  papers,  1836-1837. 


78 


PRODUCTS    OP   MANUFACTURES    AND   ARTS. 


H) 
< 
o 
o 

'SM->°A\  UI  paJsaAtn  pnjdteO 

68 

S 

•uoijBStABu  IBIUJBU  oj  "qsnq  gg  Supps)  asuadxg    88 

•paAOiduia  uajfl  jo  -O&  J  ig 

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65 

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PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS.  79 

Manufacture  of  the  Metals. 

II.  This  important  subject  naturally  follows  an 
account  of  the  products  of  mines,  and  is  one  of  great 
interest  and  difficulty.  There  are  no  general  prin- 
ciples which  can  be  brought  to  estimate  the  value  of 
the  manufactured  article  from  the  value  of  the  raw 
material,  as  the  New  York  Convention  estimate  the 
subsequent  labour  expended  on  the  manufacture  of 
leather  to  be  about  60  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  the 
material.  But  to  the  metals  no  such  principles  apply, 
a  pound  of  iron  worked  into  the  finest  needles  is  in- 
creased five  hundred  fold,  while  the  workmanship 
expended  on  gold  is  hardly  a  small  per  centage  on 
its  value.  This  subject  might  be  divided  into  the 
manufactures  of  iron,  various  metals,  and  precious 
metals. 

1st.  Manufacture  of  iron.  The  high  rate  of  duty 
upon  raw  iron  is  a  subject  of  complaint  among 
American  workmen,  as  it  is  easier  to  import  some 
articles,  as  wheel  tires,  ready  made,  than  to  impart 
the  raw  material,  and  manufacture  them  in  this 
country.  The  number  who  are  engaged  in  this  trade 
throughout  the  country  must  be  very  great,  when  the 
amount  of  machinery  employed  and  of  articles  of 
domestic  industry  produced;  is  considered.  As  we 
have  dwelt  so  long  on  the  production  of  the  raw 
or  crude  metals,  we  shall  now  only  introduce  a 
schedule,  and  not  extract  here  any  little  information 
we  have  gleaned  on  this  subject. 

2d.  Various  metals.  Under  this  head  would  be 
included  all  the  manufactures  of  lead,  zinc,  speltzer, 
tin,  brass  and  copper,  with  an  estimate  of  the  value  of 
the  raw  material,  and  the  increased  value  of  the 


80 


PRODUCTS  OP  MANUFACTURES  AND  ARTS. 


article  when  manufactured,  and  in  the  aggregate  this 
would  be  found  to  be  a  very  extensive  division,  as  in 
Massachusetts  alone,  in  183G,  377  men  were  employed 
in  manufacturing  tin  ware,  to  the  value  of  $394,322 

3d.  The  manufactures  of  the  precious  metals 
would  include  all  jewelry,  silver  ware,  watches, 
and  various  other  articles,  whose  chief  value  con- 
sisted in  the  metal  of  which  they  were  made. 

These  three  divisions,  thus  summarily  stated,  will 
embrace  the  leading  details  of  the  most  interesting 
branch  of  manufactures  in  the  country,  and  the  fol- 
lowing table  will  suffice  for  their  satisfactory  inves- 
tigation. 


IRON. 

VARIOUS 
METALS. 

PRECIOUS 
METALS. 

MACHINERY 

NAILS. 

HARDWARE. 

VARIOUS 
MANU  FACT'S 

2 

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Machinery  ma 

Value  of  raw 

nds  employed 

Is  made  of  all 

Value  of  raw 

nds  employed. 

Hardware  Cui 
Muskets,  &c 

Value  of  raw 

ids  employed. 

nufactured. 

raw  material. 

1 

nufactured. 

raw  material. 

t 

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PRODUCTS    OP    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 


81 


III.  Manufactures  on  the  Loom. 

1st.  Woollen  Manufacture.  The  high  duty  which 
is  imposed  by  the  tariff  upon  all  woollen  goods,  has 
tended  to  increase  the  consumption  both  of  native 
and  foreign  wool,  and  the  satisfactory  results  which 
have  followed  the  introduction  of  Merino  sheep  into 
this  country,  have  also  improved  the  quality  and 
value  of  the  raw  material. 


The  following  list  of  Prices  obtained  for  ten  consecutive  Years  shows  the  improve, 
ment  in  the  Quality. 


AVERAGE  PRICE  OF  WOOL 

FOR  EACH  OF  TEN  YEARS,  AS  FOLLOWS  : 

Price  paid  in  1827  averaged 

«       «     «  1828 
u       u     «  !829         « 

"       "     "  1830         " 
u       «     u  183l         u 

36  cts. 
40  " 

29  « 

58   « 

ff- 

(i  « 

((     U 

Piice  paid  in  1832  averaged  41  cts.  <$*  Ib. 
it       it     ti  J833         «        52^"    •  " 
"       «     "  1834         "        50   ««    «    « 
»       ««     «  18:«         ««        57   "    "    » 
ts       "     "  18:16        "        58  "    "    " 

The  return  from  each  sheep  is  estimated  at  3i  fts.,  and  ;iu  p^ice  estimated  at  the  mean  value 
for  the  last  ten  yeuis. 

Under  the  head  of  Agriculture  we  shall  again  refer 
to  the  number  of  sheep  in  the  United  States,  but 
here  we  shall  present  some  short  abstracts  taken 
from  "  Messrs.  Benton  and  Barry's  statistical  view 
of  the  number  of  sheep,"  in  order  to  show  the  great 
value  of  this  trade. 


STATES. 

No.  of 
Sheep. 

tbs.  of  Wool. 

Value. 

Maine  

622  619 

2,023,512 

$1,021,873 

465,179 

1,511832 

763  475 

1,099.011 

3,571,7H6 

1,81)3,751 

373,322 

l,2n,297 

612,715 

Rhode  Island                  •                     

81,  HI  VI 

265,261 

133  957 

255,169 

82;».299 

418,796 

New  York,   

4,299,879 

13,974,606 

7,057,176 

250,000 

812  500 

410,313 

1,714640 

5,572  580 

2,814.153 

15«,000 

437,5'  « 

2-16,187 

Maryland               •  •  •••••       •  •••  ••  

275000 

893,750 

451  343 

1,000,000 

3,250,0110 

1,641,250 

600009 

1,950,000 

984,750 

owe  rr.y:.....  ::.......:  .....:  

1,711,200 

5  581,400 

2  808  500 

12,897,638 

41,917,344 

$21,168,246 

11 


82  PRODUCTS  OP  MANUFACTURES   AND  ARTS. 


Sets  of  Machinery  for  the  Manufacture  of  Broadc'oths, 344 

Cassimeres 1 78 

Satinets 574 

Flannels 158 

Jeans— Linseys 210 

Blankets,  Yams,  and  Hats 24 

Carpets 61 

1549 

Of  these  about  150  are  supposed  to  be  used  for  the  manufacture  of  foreign  wool,  the 
remainder  for  wool  of  native  growth. 

The  excess  of  fine  wool  imported  over  the  exports  in  1836,  was 1,390,678  Ibs. 

"  coarse-'  "  »  «  "  "  ««  »  10,905,571  " 

Quantity  of  wool  manufactured  by  <  \?  JJe  w  York... Vmn'nnn  •" 

familipq  hv  patimato  \  Pennsylvania 3,nuo,OUB  " 

families,  by  estimate }  „  Qhio/ ",000,000  » 


All  the  above  information  is,  we  believe,  found- 
ed on  estimate,  no  actual  returns  being  made 
of  the  number  of  sheep  in  many  of  the  states,  nor 
of  the  amount  and  produce  of  the  machinery  em- 
ployed. However  we  may  suppose  that  it  gives  a 
proximate  result,  which  exhibits  as  fairly  as  circum- 
stances will  permit,  the  present  condition  of  the  wool 
trade.  It  will  be  seen,  that  in  some  of  the  states  the 
amount  of  domestic-made  cloths  is  very  great ;  in 
Pennsylvania,  for  instance,  more  than  one  half  the 
wool  raised  is  so  manufactured,  and  in  New  York 
about  one  fourth, — but  of  the  condition  of  this  branch 
of  industry  satisfactory  information  can  easily  be 
obtained,  as  we  will  afterwards  explain,  though  it 
may  be  doubtful  how  minutely  the  investigation 
ought  to  be  carried  on.  We  are  not  inclined  to  be- 
lieve that  so  particular  a  division  of  the  woollen  manu- 
facture as  the  one  above  extracted  would  be  ad- 
visable, and  we  think  cloths  for  apparel,  for  covering^ 
as  blankets,  horse  cloths,  &c. — and  for  carpets  and 
rugs,  would  be  sufficient,  together  with  another  more 
general  definition  embracing  the  other  manufactures 
of  wool,  (stockings,  &c.)  as  in  the  following  table. 


PRODUCTS   OF   MANUFACTURES   AND  ARTS. 


83 


MANUFACTURE    OF     WOOL. 

J 

! 

KM 

PI.O 

ED 

, 

1 

i 

1 

1 

I 

a 

s 

s 

_; 

i 

| 

2 

S 

£ 

1 

o 

41 

<fl 

'C 

V 

S 

£ 

o 

I 

* 

3 

1 

1 

t 

S 

.s 

S, 

1 

1 

.2- 

1 

§ 

1 

3 

S 

1 

I, 

a 

>. 

x 

1 

•c 

O 

S 

i 

*0 

*S 

•o 

1 

"2 

"S 

H 

1 

_6 

1 

i 

| 

1 

6 
55 

| 

i 

i 

Other  woollen  goods. 

Cotton  Manufacture. 

2.  Were  it  not  for  the  very  able  report  on  the 
trade  and  manufactures  of  cotton,  presented  to  Con- 
gress by  Mr.  Woodbury,  it  might  have  been  neces- 
sary to  enter  at  some  length  into  the  leading  features 
of  this  trade,  with  the  view  of  noting  the  objects 
to  which  attention,  in  taking  the  census,  should  be 
directed.  But  that  report,  which  in  truth  furnishes 
the  most  complete  condensed  account  of  the  cotton 
trade  which  has  yet  appeared,  renders  all  further 
observations  unnecessary;  more  especially  as  to  the 
author  of  that  document  would  be  entrusted  the  pre- 
paration of  the  tables  to  be  used  by  the  Deputies,  in 
the  event  of  Congress  instituting  these  statistical  en- 
quiries. We  therefore  merely  append  a  schedule, 
with  a  few  extracts  frcm  that  report,  to  illustrate 
the  arrangement  we  have  adopted. 


84 


PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND   ARTS. 
Cotton  Manufacture. 


KMPLi»VkD. 


"  The  proportion  of  spindles  to  a  factory  was 
formerly  very  small  both  in  England  and  in  this 
country.  Before  1806  it  was  only  1  or  200,  and  sel- 
dom exceeded  1000.  The  average  in  new  mills  is 
now  from  5  to  6  thousand  spindles.  In  Lowell,  in 
1836,  in  27  mills  they  had  129,828  spindles,  or  a 
little  under  5000  in  each,  though  they  print,  &c.  in 
some." 

"  The  spindle  is  the  most  convenient  article 
in  the  cotton  manufacture  by  which  to  calculate  its 
extent  The  power  of  any  one  establishment,  its 
cost,  the  number  of  persons  employed,  trie  quantity 
of  raw  cotton  consumed,  the  yarn  and  cloth  made, 
and  other  important  results  can,  by  the  help  of  a  few 
general  data,  be  very  nearly  deduced  from  the  num- 
ber of  spindles." 

"  The  capital  invested  in  cotton  manufactories  in 
this  country  may  be  estimated  at  from  $28  to  $44 
on  each  spindle." 

The  number  of  persons  employed  according  to  the 
best  authorities 

Are  in  England,  900,000  persons  in  1835. 
France,     200,000        "         "  1831. 

u.  s.f 


PRODUCTS    OP   MANUFACTURES    AND   ARTS.  85 

As  all  the  cotton  is  produced  in  the  southern  states, 

and  shipped  from  thence  to  the  north,  or  to  Europe,  the 

custom-house  papers  give  an  accurate  exhibition  of 

the  amount  raised,  with  the  exception  of  the  quantity 

which  is  consumed  in  domestic   manufactures.     In 

the  returns  of  the   quantity  raised  by  each  planter 

in  the  course  of  the  year,  which  we  afterwards   re- 

commend, there  will  be  data  afforded  for  ascertaining 

the  amount  consumed  by  domestic  industry,   which 

must  at  present  be  merely  a  rude  estimate,  which  Coxe, 

in  his  report  on  manufactures,  in   1810    "  gives  at 

$5,000,000  value,  and  the  number  of  yards  at   16jt 

millions,  as  the   produce  of  the  manufacture  of  cot- 

ton in  families  ;"  and  in  the  report,  of  Mr.  Wooclbury 

we  find,  "  in  the  south  and  west  the  household  manu- 

facture of  it  is  very  great."     As  illustrating  the  do- 

mestic economy  of  different  sections  of  the  country 

such  information  will  be  useful  and  interesting,  and 

can  readily  be  obtained  by  the  returns  we  purpose  to 


The  growth  of  this  trade,  and  the  ingenuity  ex- 
hibited by  the  manufacturers  in  improving  the  ma- 
chinery, a  large  number  of  the  recent  inventions  in 
the  cotton  mill  having  been  made  in  this  country,  are 
very  grateful  subjects  for  the  Political  economist  to 
consider,  as  the  extensive  use  of  machinery  in  this 
manufacture  renders  it  especially  suited  to  the  wants 
of  the  American  trade,  although  the  original  cost 
of  the  machinery  is  much  greater  here  than  in 
England.  The  recent  and  very  full  investiga- 
tion which  this  whole  branch  of  commercial  and 
manufacturing  wealth  has  undergone,  leaves  .little  to 
be  expected  from  further  inquiry,  and  the  research 


86  PRODUCTS    OP    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 

which  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  shown  is  a 
great  encouragement  to  the  student  of  statistics,  when 
he  remembers  that  the  like  attention  and  industry 
may,  under  such  direction,  be  applied  to  all 
the  various  sources  of  national  wealth,  and  we  may 
be  able  to  point,  with  some  confidence,  to  the  returns 
exhibited  without  having  it  said,  "Whoever  may 
make  an  experiment  in  obtaining  precise  and  ac- 
curate returns  upon  the  subjects  here  treated  of,  will 
find  that  it  is  neither  an  easy  nor  seductive  task." 

Silk  Manufacture. 

3.  The  rapid  increase  of  the  cotton  trade,  and  the 
wealth  which  it  brings  to  this  country,  have  led  many 
individuals  to  predict  similar  advantages  as  likely  to 
accrue  to  the  north  from  the  introduction  of  the  silk 
culture  and   manufacture.     The  sanguine  are  ever 
ready  to  exhibit  accurate  and  precise  calculations  of 
the  value  of  this  or  other  experiments,  and   if  the 
certainty  of  success  depended  on  the  confidence  of 
prediction,  there  would  be  no   room   for  the   least 
hesitation  in  giving  assent  to  the  assumptions  of  such 
speculators.     Whether  the  silk  trade  is  capable  of 
being   carried   on    in    the    U.   S.,    or  whether  the 
severity  of  the  climate,  and  the  expenses  incident  to 
the   management    of   the  silk   worm   will    prevent 
native  silk  being  raised  to  any  extent,  time  alone  will 
determine  ;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  condition  of  the 
manufacturing  interests  in  this  country  is  not  such 
as  will  enable  it  to  compete  with  the  low  prices  and 
low  wrages  which  prevail  in  France  and  India,  if  the 
raw  material  used  is  of  foreign  growth.     Several  of 
the  states  have  lately  passed  bounty  laws  for  the  cul- 


PRODUCTS   OF   MANUFACTURES  AND   ARTS.  87 

tivation  of  the  mulberry  tree,  and  the  silk  worm,  and 
a  mania  seems  to  pervade  some  sections  of  the 
country  for  the  speedy  introduction  of  this  new 
source  of  wealth.  "  The  state  of  Connecticut  has 
long  taken  the  lead  in  the  growth  and  manufacture 
of  silk.  Mansfield  has  been  engaged  in  the  raising 
of  it  ever  since  1760,  and  the  quantity  is  gradually 
increasing.  Windham  and  Tolland  counties  have 
produced,  for  the  last  year,  raw  silk  sufficient  to  em- 
ploy 55  looms,  which  would  manufacture  30,000 
yards  per  year  of  vestings  and  other  broad  goods.* 
In  Massachusetts,  in  1836,  there  were  4  manufactories 
of  silk,  producing  $56,150  worth  of  goods,  employ- 
ing 125  persons,  and  having  invested  capital  of 
$137,000.  f  The  amount  of  bounty  which  some  of 
the  Connecticut  factories  are  to  receive  this  year  is 
an  evidence  of  the  increasing  value  of  this  trade, 
whether  permanent  or  not  cannot  be  determined; 
"  the  Connecticut  Silk  Manufacturing  Company, 
$11,500  ;  Messrs.  Gay  and  Button,  of  Lisbon,  $2000 ; 
the  Mansfield  Silk  Factory,  $1500;  the  State-House 
yard  $8000."t 

It  is  departing  from  the  arrangement  we  have 
generally  followed,  to  have  the  culture  of  the  raw 
material  introduced  in  connection  with  its  manufac- 
ture, but  the  advantage  of  uniting  the  two  in  the 
case  of  the  silk  trade  may  be  a  sufficient  reason  for 
departing  from  the  general  plan.  Properly,  the 
raw  material  ought  to  have  been  classed  under  the 
head  of  agricultural  produce,  but  the  infant  state  of 
the  culture,  and  the  subdivided  condition  of  its 
manufacture,  seem  to  require  the  other  division. 

*  New  York  Farmer,     f  Bigelow's  Report,  1837,  Massachusetts.     J  Ibid. 


88 


PRODUCTS    OP   MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 


The  following  t:tble  emb  -aces  what  appear  to  be  the 
chiefly  interesting  points  in  this  trade. 


SILK 


MANUFACTURE. 

KM 

PLOY 

ED. 

i 

I 

c 

I 

c 

silk  spun. 

uce  used. 

1 

1 

3 

1 

1 

c 

I 

1 

5. 

*' 

I 
1 

No.  oflbs.  of  Coc 

No.  of  Ibs.  of  raw 

Value  of  same. 

No.  of  Ibs.  of  sev 

0 

No.  of  manufactc 

Value  of  foreign 

1  Value  of  domestic 

1 

Females. 

Persons  under  15. 

Value  of  produce 

e 

Amount  of  bount 

No  observations  are  required  upon  this  table,  ex- 
cept that  the  enumeration  of  persons  employed  refers 
only  to  those  engaged  in  manufactories,  and  that  the 
amount  of  bounty  given  by  the  state  for  any  thing 
connected  with  this  trade  be  enumerated  in  the  last 
column. 

In  the  infant  rise  of  this  branch  of  industry,  it  is 
of  great  importance  to  have  the  fullest  view  of  its 
present  state  exhibited,  and  when  the  next  decimal 
period  comes  round,  in  1850,  there  will  be  data  for 
an  accurate  examination  of  its  progress,  and  the 
means  of  ascertaining  its  value  will  be  afford- 
ed. It  has  been  strongly  urged  upon  the  ge- 
neral government  that  something  should  be  done 
to  encourage  this  interest,  but  without  success,  and  it 
is  as  well  perhaps  that  no  encouragement  has  been 
held  out,  which  it  is  impossible  permanently  to  se- 


PRODUCTS    OP    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 


89 


cure  to  the  trade.  Should  it  be  found  to  succeed,  the 
advantages  which  will  accrue  to  the  country  will  be 
very  great,  as  it  is  a  species  of  employment  which 
may  well  be  united  with  domestic  occupations,  and 
every  cottage  and  village  may  be  the  seat  of  useful 
and  advantageous  employment,  increasing  the  wealth 
of  the  country  at  large,  while  it  adds  to  the  prosperity 
and  comforts  of  those  engaged  in  it.  The  culture  of 
silk  will  do  much  to  revive  the  domestic  man- 
ufactures of  the  past  day,  and  may  exercise  a 
beneficial  influence  on  the  morals  and  habits  of  the 
people. 

Mixed  Manufactures. 

4.  There  are  several  sorts  of  manufactures  which 
do  not  come  under  any  of  the  three  foregoing 
divisions,  which  may  be  included  in  the  follow- 
ing table,  such  as  shawls,  &c. 

MIXED  MANUFACTURES. 


EMPLOYED. 


General  Manufacture  of  Hats. 

5.  Hats.  Under  this  head  various  descriptions  of 
articles  may  be  enumerated,  and  the  hats  for  males 
might  be  divided  into  those  of  Wool,  or  Hair,  Silk  and 

12 


90  PRODUCTS    OP   MANFACTURES   AND   ARTS. 

Palm  Leaf;  those  for  females,  into  Straw,  Palm  Leaf, 
and  Silk ;  and  those  for  boys,  into  Caps  of  Fur  and 
Cloth ;  such  subdivision  would  not,  however,  be  ad- 
visable, and  the  simpler  division  into  Hats,  Bonnets, 
or  Caps  of  Wool,  Fur,  or  Silk,  and  Hats,  Bonnets, 
or  Caps  of  Vegetable  material  will  be  preferable. 

The  value  of  this  branch  of  industry  is  completely 
unknown,  and  of  course  the  estimates  vary  greatly. 
"  The  Committee  to  the  New  York  Convention  report 
mens'  hats  for  home  consumption  as  valued  at 
$10,000,000;  those  for  exportation,  at  $500,000, 
and  the  value  of  caps  in  the  United  States,  at 
$4,500,000;  that  the  number  of  persons  employed 
in  this  manufacture  is  15,000  men  and  boys,  and  3,000 
women ;  and  the  wages  amonnt  to  $4,200,000  an- 
nually." But  such  calculations  are  made  with  very- 
little  consideration,  and  are  based  upon  some  theory 
of  the  amount  of  the  value  of  hats  wrhich  each  person 
will  consume  in  a  year,  and  no  reliance  can  be 
placed  upon  them.  That  a  very  large  amount  of  labour 
and  material  is  expended  in  this  way  is  believed ; 
and  the  manufacture  will  be  found  to  be  generally 
dispersed  over  the  country,  as  a  hat  establishment 
requires  but  a  small  capital  for  its  erection.  The 
value  of  hats  manufactured  in  Massachusetts  in 
1836,  was  as  follows,  which  inclines  us  to  doubt  the 
accuracy  of  the  above  extract. 

Hat  Manufactories, 117 

No.  of  Hats  manufactured 406,400 

Value  of  Hats  manufactured $678,086 

Wales  employed 556 

Females  employed 304 

No.  of  Straw  Bonnets  made 888,927 

Value  of  Straw  Bonnets  made $1,261,004 

No  ofPahn  Leaf  Hats  made 3,310,691 

Value  of  Palm  Leaf  Hats $641,799 


PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND   ARTS. 


91 


The  rate  of  the  tariff  has  quite  excluded  foreign 
hats  from  the  market,  and  hats  of  similar  quality 
are  now  as  cheap  in  this  country,  as  they  could  be 
procured  from  abroad. 

The  number  of  Palm  Leaf  Hats  made  is  very 
great,  but  the  sum  total  of  their  value  is  small,  as 
they  are  afforded  at  a  very  low  price.  The  manu- 
facture of  Straw  Bonnets  is  rapidly  increasing,  and 
some  of  the  most  valuable  description  are  now  made 
in  the  eastern  states  ;  but  both  the  last  articles  being 
domestic  manufacture  to  a  great  extent,  there  will,  it  is 
feared,  be  some  difficulty  in  determining  their  exact 
value.  If  the  following  schedule  is  properly  filled  up, 
the  information  on  the  subject  will  be  much  increased. 

Manufacture  of  Hats,  Bonnets,  and  Caps,  of 


WOOL,    FUR,    OR    SILK. 

VEGETABLE    MATERIAL. 

ij 

I 

- 

EMPLOYED. 

1 

EM 

PLOY 

ED. 

I 

| 

1 

1 

«5 

"O 

| 

•1 

0)  •  • 

« 

£ 

6 
1 

rt 

i 
I 

^•a 

8 

12 

1 

1 

11 

s 

• 

a 

1 

(3 

H 

v 

a 

•a 

to 

9 

c 

1 

04 

^ 

1 
1 

ffl 

•a 
c 

3 

EH 

IB 

« 

| 

0 

f 

1 

g 

tt 

1 

"o 

i 

C 

c 

13 

6 

s 

2 

6 

1 

^ 

6 

•a 

S 

£ 

£ 

3 

a 

£ 

ff 

s 

EM 

£ 

6.  The  manufacture  of  hides,  skins,  and  furs,  natu- 
rally divides  itself  into  the  manufacture  of  leather,  and 
the  fabrication  of  articles  from  leather  and  fur. 

The  increased  trade  in  manufacturing  leather  has 
more  than  kept  pace  with  the  general  prosperity  of 
the  country,  but  of  its  actual  condition  little  is 
known.  By  the  census  of  the  State  of  New  York 
we  find,  that  in  1835,  the  value  of  leather  manu- 


92  PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 

factured  was  15,598,626,  while  the  Convention,  in 
1830,   give    the    following    estimate    regarding    it. 
"  The  leather  made  in  the  State  of  New  York  was 
last  year  valued  at  $2,905,750,  say  three  millions,  and 
in  1810,  at  1,079,742."     This  shows  a  very  rapid  ad- 
vance in  the  trade,  and  from  the  more  recent  return, 
in  1835,  the  ratio  of  increase  seems  to  be  maintained. 
"  But  probably  the  present  value  of  the  manufacture 
of  leather  in  New  York  is  equal  to  one-fifth  of  the 
whole  made  in  the  United  States,  say  therefore  15 
millions."     If  the  same  estimate  were  made,  the  value 
of  leather  in    this    country  in    1835   amounted  to 
about  twenty-eight  millions,  exceeding  the  value  of 
cotton  exported  10  years  ago.     The  number  of  tan- 
neries in  New  York  in   1835,  was  412;  in  Massa- 
chusetts 1836,  416  ;    and  in  New  Jersey,  1830,  there 
were  2915  tan  vats,  but  how  many  tanneries  was  not 
reported.     The  value  of  this  trade  demands  an  ac- 
curate inquiry  into  its  'present  amount,  if  the  first 
manufacture  of  the  raw  material  only  is  considered ; 
when  however,  the  fabrication  of  articles  from  leather 
is    estimated,  the    importance     of    this    branch    of 
national   industry  is   increased.     It  is  calculated  by 
the  Convention,  that  the  subsequent  manufacture  of 
leather  into  boots,  shoes,  and  saddlery,  increases  the 
value  of  the  material  about  60  per  cent.,  which   fol- 
lowing   out   the    calculation    above,    would  make 
the   whole   value  of    manufactured    hides,   about, 
or     rather    upwards    of  forty-four    millions,     and 
deducting  from   that,  three  millions,  as  the  value  of 
raw-hides  imported,  forty-one  millions  are  left  as  the 
product  of  the  soil  and  industry  of  the  country.    The 
manufacture   of  boots  aad  shoes  is  carried  on  very 


PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 


93 


extensively  in  many  of  the  States ;  the  value 
manufactured  in  Massachusetts,  in  1836,  being 
$14,642,520,  and  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  alone,  in  1832, 
they  were  manufactured  to  the  value  of  a  million 
and  a  half  dollars. 

The  following  table  embraces  all  deemed  desira- 
ble, but  the  other  may  easily  be  added,  if  thought 
expedient. 

Manufacture  of  Hides  and  Skins  into 


Township,  Ward,  &c. 

LEATHER. 

MANUFACTURES 
OF    LEATHER. 

No.  of  Tanneries. 
1 

No.  of  Tan  Vats. 

Value  of  Raw 

Material. 

ue  of  Manufac- 
tured article. 

c 

« 

Z 
> 

o 
& 

Value  of  Burk,  &c. 
employed. 

Value  of  Leather 
consumed. 

Value  of  manufac- 
tured article. 

No.  of  Men. 

Native. 

Foreign. 

$ 

Soap,  Candles,  Wax  and  Oil. 

7.  The  estimates  given  regarding  these  necessary 
articles,  which  are  furnished  to  the  United  States, 
wholly  by  domestic  manufacture,  being  so  very  vague, 
that  it  is  unnecessary  to  introduce  them  here,  we  will 
only  append  the  form  of  schedule  suited  to  elucidate 
the  information. 

Manufacture  of  Soap  and  Candles. 


PRODUCED. 

M 

*4 

i 

*S  o. 

s.  of  Hard  Soap 

fts.  of  Sperm 
Candles 

fts.  of  Tallow 
Candles 

Ibs.ofWax 
Candle? 

ggregate  Value  c 
Material. 

Aggregate  Valu 
manufactured  ar 

o.  of  men  emploj 

apital  invested. 

4 

< 

fc 

O 

94  PRODUCTS   OF   MANUFACTURES    AND   ARTS. 

Distilled  or  Fermented  Liquors,  from  Grain,  Fruit, 
or  Molasses. 

8.  It  is  much  to  be  lamented  that  so  large  a  propor- 
tion of  the  domestic  manufactures  still  comes  under 
this  head,  though  it  is  hoped  that  the  quantity  is  much 
diminished  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Tem- 
perance Society,  and  the  philanthropist  can  only  re- 
gret that  so  much  yet  remains  to  be  done  for  the 
elevation  of  the  morals  of  the  people,  and  the  sup- 
pression of  a  trade  and  manufacture  which  brings 
want  and  poverty  into  the  wealthiest  regions  of 
this  favoured  land.  The  value,  or  rather,  let  the 
expression  cost  be  employed,  the  cost  of  spirituous 
liquors  in  1810,  was  estimated  at  about  one-tenth  of 
the  value  of  all  the  manufactures  of  the  United 
States,  and  amounted  to  nearly  fifteen  millions. 
What  are  the  permanent  influences  exercised  by  the 
Temperance  Societies,  inquiry  alone  can  determine ; 
and  there  are  some  grounds  for  believing,  that  in 
some  parts  of  the  country,  the  traffic  in  this  baneful 
commodity  has  diminished,  while  in  others,  it  seems 
to  have  increased,  as  Mr.  Pitkins  mentions,  that 
53,620  barrels  of  whiskey  were  brought  down  the 
Miami  Canal,  in  1833.  The  present  extent  of  this 
trade  will  easily  be  determined,  and  while  the>statist 
records  with  pleasure,  the  growth  of  other  branches 
of  industry,  he  cannot  but  feel 

Ille  et  nefasto  te  posuit  die, 
duicunque  primum,  et  sacrilega  manu 

Produxit  arbos,  in  nepntum 
Perniciem,  opprobriumque  pagi. 

Statements  of  the  consumption,  the  expense,  and  the 
destructiveness  of  the  use  of  spiritous  liquors  are  so 
commonly  circulated,  that  it  is  needless  to  repeat 


PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 


95 


them,  particularly  as  they  are  too  frequently  made 
by  persons  engaged  in  promoting  temperance,  and 
rather  characterized  for  their  good  intention  than 
their  accuracy.  In  another  place,  the  number  en- 
gaged in  retailing  spirituous  liquor  will  be  referred 
to — the  following  table  is  only  designed  to  em- 
brace the  manufacture  of  it. 

Distilled  Liquors  and  Fermented  Liquors. 


DISTILLED. 

FERMENTED. 

. 

1 

•I 

O 

"o 

'£ 

B> 

| 

is 

*s 

2 

•o 

r^ 

*o 

1 

*d 

£ 

5 

1 

W 

"3 

tJC 

1) 

1 

c 

1 

"ft 

R 

pital  investt 

».  of  bushels 

).  of  gallons 

ilueof  same. 

1 

G 

1 

'ca 

•a 

0 

3 

g 

fc 

1 

fc 

> 

0 

^ 

£ 

> 

& 

0 

o/7  all  kinds. 

9.  The  only  report  of  the  condition  of  this  trade, 
is  that  made  to  the  Convention  in  1830,  so  that  the 
inquiry  made  in  1840,  will  show  the  progress  of  the 
manufacture  in  the  interval ;  the  amount  said  to  be 
made  in  1830,  being 

Flint  Glass  -  -  -  -  $1,300,000 
Crown  Window  Glass,  -  150,000 
Cylinder  do.  do.  -  851,000 
Glass  Bottles  of  all  kinds  200,000 


$2,501,000 

employing  about  1,800  men,  whose  wages  amounted 
to  $600,000,  and  the  whole  amount  of  glass  manu- 


96 


PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES   AND    ARTS. 


factored,  was  estimated  at  $3,000,000,  while  the 
window  glass  imported  has  not,  for  five  years,  exceed- 
ed $50,000  annually.  It  is  a  question  of  expediency, 
as  we  have  often  already  said,  whether  the  sub- 
divisions should  be  carried  to  a  considerable  extent 
or  not,  in  these  different  manufactures,  which  the 
Secretary  must  alone  determine,  but  in  this  trade 
it  would  seem  advisable  to  distinguish  the  four  kinds 
of  glass,  and  to  include  all  pottery  or  earthenware 
under  two  heads,  common  and  fine. 


GLASS  MANUFACTORY. 

EARTHEN-WARE. 

FLINT. 

CROWN. 

CYLINDER 

BOTTLE. 

"E. 
g 

1  invested. 

COM. 

FINE. 

men  employed. 

1 

Furnaces. 
Pots. 

of  raw  material. 

of  manufact. 

Furnaces. 

of  raw  material. 

3 

'3 

S 
*5 

Furnaces. 

3 

c 
1. 

ot  raw  material. 

(if  manufacture 

Furnaces. 

1 

of  raw  material. 

of  manufacture. 

manufactories 

of  raw  material. 

of  manufacture. 

manufactories 

of  raw  material. 

of  manufacture. 

olo 

ill 

w 

5. 

es 

> 

a 

0 

o 
2 

c 
6 
fc 

V 

3 

75 

s 

3 

75 

c 
c 

~c 

o 
2 

I 

v 
3 
a 

0 
0 

z; 

0 

c 

?: 

11 
>,> 

0) 

I 

S 

c 
^c 

s 

1 

0 
0 

0) 

> 

II 

S 

5, 

cB 
J 

1 

1 

1 

Refineries. 

10.  This  important  branch  of  national  industry  is 
alike  the  subject  of  doubt  and  estimate,  and  as  the 
returns  of  it  may  be  easily  procured  by  the  following 
schedule,  it  is  unnecessary  to  do  more  than  mention 
the  number  of  manufactories  of  refined  sugar  in 
1830,  although  the  amount  of  their  manufacture  is 
unknown. 


PRODUCTS    OF    MANUFACTURES    AND    ARTS. 


97 


New  Orleans  - 

Baltimore    -  - 

Philadelphia  - 

New  York  -  - 

Providence 

Boston 

Salem     -    -  - 


-  3 

-  8 

-  11 

-  11 

-  1 

-  3 

-  1 


Paper — Manufactures  of. 

11.  This  article  of  such   extensive   use   is   also 
principally  supplied  by  domestic  manufacture,  and 
the   amount  of  the  production  is  at  present  a  mat- 
ter  of    pure    conjecture ;    it,    however,    would   be 
shown  by  the    adoption  of  the  following  schedule, 
which  will  be  understood  to    include   paper,  both 
writing   and  printing,    wrapping    paper  and  paste- 
board, &c. 

Cables  and   Cordage. 

12.  It  is  principally  upon  the  domestic  production 
that  the  shipping  and  navy  rely  for  their  supplies  of 
cordage  and  cables,  and  in  New  York  alone,  in  1835, 
there  were  63  factories,  producing  $980,000  worth 


of  cordage. 


Sugar  Refineries.          Paper  Manufacture. 


Cables  and  Cordage. 


7 

1 

is 

i 

*• 

- 

•a 

? 

? 

5 

DO 

I 

I 

i 

t» 

•3 

j- 

I 

- 

• 

PH 

i 

i 
tc 

O 

\ 

i 
| 

5 

j 

> 

i 

i 

1 

i 

ufactoric 

1 
I 

1 

•= 

i 

1 

| 

c 

4 

> 

roduce. 

_« 

2 

_cs 

~. 

IM 

i 

i 

c3 

_^_ 

—-< 

^ 

B 

a 



p. 

g 

E 



Pi 

O 

>• 

e 

No.  of  M 

Native. 

ti 

M. 

Value  of 

Capital  ir 

i 

6 
z: 

o 
^6 

1 
Z, 

c 
sr 

1 

Value  of 

1 

p 

•8 

_0 

Native. 

.§> 
c 

Value  of 

Quantity 

Quantity 

i 

1 

No.  of  Pe 

13 


98 


PRODUCTS  OF  MANUFACTURES  AND  ARTS. 


Drugs,  Paints,  cfc. 

13.  This  is  a  very  extensive  source  of  wealth  to 
the  country,  and  one  which  is  frequently  overlooked. 
It  is  impossible   to  enumerate  the  various  kinds  of 
articles  which    would  come   under  this   head,   but 
many  of  them  are  mentioned  in.  an  interesting  report 
to  the  New  York  Convention,  on  the  subject. 

Pleasure   Carriages. 

14.  The   manufacturing  of  carriages  and  wagons 
for  country  and  farming  use,  more  properly  comes 
under  the  head  of  country  occupations ;  but  here  we 
wish  to  include  a  trade  which  is  carried  on  to  a  great 
extent  in  New  Haven,   Conn.;  Newark,  N.  J.;  and 
various  other  places  throughout  the  North  and  West, 
for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  domestic  or  South- 
ern trade  with  pleasure  carriages.     Mr.  Pitkin  esti- 
mates  this  manufacture  as  being  worth  more  than 
four  millions,  annually. 

Drugs  and  Paints.        Carriage  Manufacture. 


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IV.  AGRICULTURAL  STATISTICS. 

There  is  one  convenient  element  which  the  Euro- 
pean, and  especially  the  British  statists  possess,  when 
treating  of  this  branch  of  national  wealth,  which  for- 
tunately for  the  social  relation  of  this  country,  we  are 
entirely  ignorant  of,  that  is,  the  annual  value  or  rent  of 
farm  land.  In  this  country,  the  value  of  labour  is  so 
great,  and  the  cost  of  land  so  trifling,  that  many 
alterations  in  the  proportion  which  these  elements 
bear  to  each  other,  have  necessarily  been  establish- 
ed ;  and  the  nature  of  our  climate,  which  locks  up 
in  a  Greenland  garb,  the  soil,  which  in  Europe  is 
tilled  throughout  the  year,  tends  also  to  increase  the 
disparity.  As  the  entire  agricultural  information  at 
present  possessed,  relative  to  this  country,  has  been 
derived  from  some  few  isolated  facts^  serving  as  the 
basis  of  calculations  derived  chiefly  from  English 
authorities,  a  mere  reference  to  the  different  condi- 
tion of  the  countries,  in  the  one,  a  dense  population 
and  scarcity  of  land,  in  the  other,  a  scattered  popu- 
lation with  an  abundance  of  land,  will  show,  that  no 
great  reliance  can  be  placed  on  such  estimated  re- 
sults. 

This  branch  of  industry  and  source  of  wealth,  is 
unquestionably  the  most  important  to  the  country  at 
large,  whether  as  viewed  in  relation  to  its  internal 


100  AGRICULTURAL  STATISTICS. 

economy,  or  its  foreign  trade.  Of  the  ninety-five 
millions  of  exports  in  1837,  about  eighty-three  were 
products  of  the  soil,  and  neither  of  the  particular 
statistics  of  the  production  of  this  amount  of  property 
exported,  nor  of  the  amount  of  domestic  consump- 
tion, can  anything  be  learned.  As  concisely  as  pos- 
sible, we  would  desire  to  show  the  nature  and  extent 
of  the  information  which  might  be  procured,  for  the 
subject  is  one,  which  ramifying  into  a  thousand 
branches,  might  lead  to  many  interesting  notices, 
especially  when  the  great  extent  of  the  territory  of 
the  United  States,  the  difference  of  its  soils,  the 
variety  of  its  climate,  and  the  differing  wants  of  its 
inhabitants  are  considered.  But  to  address  ourselves 
directly  to  the  task,  we  begin  by  giving  a  list  of  the 
information  which  might  be  obtained,  and  the  most 
convenient  means  of  acquiring  it. 

No.  of  Horses  in  the  country  of  all  ages 
do.     Cattle,  neat         do.  do. 

do.     Cows,  milch       do.  do. 

do.     Sheep,  do.  do. 

do.     Swine,  do.  do. 

do.     Mules,  do.  do. 

No.  of  Acres  of  Wheat,  with  the  average  return  per 
acre. 

do.  Barley,  do. 

do.  Oats,  do. 

do.  Rye,  do. 

do.  Buckwheat,  do. 

do.  Corn,  do. 

do.  Potatoes,  do. 

.    do.  Hay,  do. 


AGRICULTURAL      STATISTICS.  101 

No,  of  Ibs.  of  Cotton, 

do.  Tobacco, 

do.  Rice, 

do.  Sugar. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  such  re- 
turns, would  be  to  show  the  exact  progress  of 
improvement,  or  alteration  in  the  several  counties  in 
each  State,  and  to  exhibit,  when  repeated  at  the 
next  decimal  period,  the  increasing  wealth  of  the 
country  at  large.  In  some  of  the  recently  settled 
States,  the  march  of  improvement  is  rapid  and  con- 
tinuous ;  in  some  of  those  on  the  seaboard,  or  in 
some  parts  of  them  at  least,  the  movements  have  for 
many  years  been  retrograde,  and  at  present  the 
political  economist  must  rest  satisfied  with  the  rudest 
approximation  to  the  causes  which  have  induced  the 
different  changes.  If  either  the  rise  and  progress, 
or  the  decline  of  each  small  district  of  the  country 
were  accurately  determined,  there  would  then  be 
some  ground  to  hope  that  we  might  be  able  to  detect 
the  causes,  respectively,  which  influence  the  changes 
and  by  promoting  the  one  and  checking  the  other, 
the  different  classes  might  hope  to  be  materially 
benefitted. 

We  see  no  reason  to  apprehend  any  peculiar  diffi- 
culty in  arriving  at  sufficiently  accurate  returns  of 
the  agricultural  statistics  of  the  country,  as  the 
deputies  can  easily  put  the  questions  directly  to  the 
farmer,  and  the  answers,  though  generally  accurate, 
would  not  require  to  be  made  with  scrupulous  nicety. 
Every  farmer  could  tell  how  many  acres  of  wheat  he 
had  sown  during  the  past  year,  and  could  either  re- 
port the  actual  product  per  acre  of  his  returns,  or 


102  AGRICULTURAL     STATISTICS. 

/ 

estimate  their  probable  production,  as  there  would  be 
no  need  of  descending  to  the  fraction  of  an  acre,  and 
within  a  quarter  of  a  bushel  would  be  a  sufficient 
approximation  to  the  amount.  Of  the  number  of 
live  stock  in  his  possession,  he  could  make  equally 
satisfactory  answers,  it  being  understood  that  that 
term  applied  to  all  the  animals  living,  without  re- 
garding their  particular  ages.  In  the  State  of  New 
Jersey,  where  the  assessors  for  the  purposes  of  taxa- 
tion, report  the  number  of  cattle,  there  is  a  division 
made  between  those  under,  and  those  above  3  years, 
but  we  hardly  think  that  any  valuable  statistical  in- 
formation would  follow  such  distribution,  and  as  it 
would  increase  the  trouble,  we  do  not  think  it  advisa- 
ble to  retain  it.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  while  we 
are  sanguine  that  many  useful  facts  might  be 
obtained  from  the  returns  as  here  proposed,  we 
see  no  difficulty  which  need  prevent  them  from 
being  complied  with.  Let  us  now  take  a  rapid  sur- 
vey of  the  articles  enumerated  in  the  above  list. 

HORSES. — Whether  as  illustrating  the  social  habits 
of  a  people,  or  their  economical  arrangement,  the  in- 
formation relative  to  the  live  stock  and  its  descrip- 
tion, would  be  valuable.  In  a  thinly  settled  country 
like  this,  where  distances  to  market  towns  and 
churches  are  great,  and  where  many  difficulties 
prevent  the  inhabitants  from  making  a  habit  of  walk- 
ing, the  number  of  horses  kept  for  pleasure,  or  con- 
venience, will  be  greater  than  where,  as  in  some 
European  countries,  the  custom  of  walking  pervades 
all  classes.  On  the  other  hand,  the  system  of  man- 
agement will  increase  or  diminish  the  number  of 
horses  kept  for  agricultural  purposes,  as  in  some 


AGRICULTURAL    STATISTICS.  103 

counties  in  England,  seven  horses  are  required  to 
move  the  antiquated  plough  still  in  use,  while  a  more 
useful  implement  is  drawn  in  other  counties  by  two. 
Custom  in  different  districts,  which  determines  the 
feeding  of  horses,  varies  so  greatly,  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  determine  the  annual  outlay  incurred 
in  maintaining  the  horses  in  this  country,  and  though 
the  information  would  be  valuable  and  interesting, 
we  rather  fear  that  it  would  be  found  to  be  too  in- 
tricate for  most  farmers  to  answer,  as  they  seldom 
keep  accurate  accounts  of  the  consumption  of 
produce  on  their  farms.  Throughout  the  coun- 
try generally,  the  expense  of  keeping  a  horse 
might  be  estimated  at  $25  a  year,  and  there  are 
perhaps,  at  present,  about  3,500,000  in  this  country, 
which  would  amount  to  an  outlay  of  $87,500,000,  a 
very  large  item  when  considered  in  the  aggregate  ; 
but  this  is  merely  an  unauthorized  estimate.  The 
only  information  on  the  subject,  we  append  be- 
low, being  an  estimate  of  the  number  of  horses  in 
England,  by  McCulloch,  and  returns  of  the  number 
for  two  States,  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  for  the 
years  1835  and  1830.*  Dismissing  then,  the  inter- 
esting and  useful  questions  of  the  whole  value  of  the 
horses  in  this  country,  the  expense  of  their  keep,  and 
the  proportion  of  the  produce  of  the  land  which  they 
consume,  which  has  been  estimated  at  about  one- 
sixth,  all  we  propose  to  have  returned,  is  the  number 


*ENGLAND,  (  No.  of  Horses 1,500,000  being 

1834.          \  No.  of  Cattle 4,119,487  « 

NEW-YORK,  \  No.  of  Horsna 524,892  " 

1835         )  No.  of  Cattle  1,885,731  " 

NEW-JERSEY,  (  No.  of  Horses  and 

1830.          •?       and  Mules.          53.865  " 

(  No.  of  Cattle 176.670 


to  every  9.3  persons. 
«      «      3.4       « 
«      «      4.1        " 
"      "      1.2       « 

«      «      5.9        « 
1.8 


There  being  in  England  rather  less  than  3  Cattle  to  each  Horse,  and  in  these  two  States 
about  3; ;  the  numuer  of  Horse*  and  Cattle  for  tae  same  number  of  population,  being 
about  double  in  America. 


104  AGRICULTURAL    STATISTICS. 

now  existing  throughout  the  country,  which  can  be 
no  very  difficult  task. 

CATTLE. — We  are  strongly  tempted  to  divide  this 
head  into  Cows  giving  milk,  and  other  cattle,  as 
while  it  would  not  increase  the  labour  much,  it  would 
afford  some  criteria  for  estimating  the  amount  of 
dairy  produce  which  the  country  affords.  It  might 
also  be  desirable  to  have  the  number  slaughtered 
within  a  year,  returned,  but  we  fear  that  many  diffi- 
culties would  present  themselves,  which  could  not 
easily  be  got  over.  It  has  been  estimated  in  Eng- 
land, that  one-fourth  are  killed  annually,  but  we  be- 
lieve, that  that  is  a  larger  number  than  the  practice 
of  this  country  condemns  to  the  shambles,  and  that 
one-fifth  would  be  nearer  the  truth.  The  number  of 
cattle  in  the  United  States,  may  perhaps  be  about 
eleven  millions,  which  would  make  the  number  kill- 
ed annually,  not  quite  two  millions,  of  which  nearly 
$600,000  worth,  are  exported.  The  table  above 
gives  an  account  of  the  numbers  in  New  York  and 
New  Jersey. 

SHEEP. — When  speaking  of  woollen  manufac- 
tures, we  have  noted  the  slender  stock  of  informa- 
tion which  we  possess,  regarding  the  number  of 
Sheep  in  the  United  States,  and  certainly  in  relation 
to  a  subject  of  such  national  importance  as  the 
growth  of  wool  for  the  supply  of  the  domestic  and 
home  market,  some  attention  and  trouble  were  well 
expended.  Of  late  years,  the  price  and  quality  of 
the  wool  produced,  have  increased  much,  and  great 
attention  is  now  paid  in  many  parts  of  the  United 
States,  to  the  increase  and  improvement  of  the 
flocks — in  1836,  there  were  about  thirteen  millions  of 


AGRICULTURAL    STATISTICS.  105 

Sheep,  producing  about  forty-two  millions  of  pounds 
of  wool,  which  are  worth  about  $21,000,000. 

Of  the  different  breeds  of  sheep  which  prevail  in 
this  country  it  is  not  necessary  to  take  account,  and  in 
truth  the  difficulty  of  determining  the  kind  in  some  of 
the  mixed  flocks  must  deprive  the  returns  of  much 
value.  In  the  returns  from  the  assessors  in  Massa- 
chusetts however,  the  whole  number  of  sheep,  num- 
bering 374,614  are  divided  into  Saxony  46,985,  Me- 
rino 200,383,  and  all  other  kinds  127,246  ;  but  we  do 
not  think  such  subdivisions  should  be  followed. 

But  the  whole  of  the  returns  under  this  head  pos- 
sess an  interest  of  which  we  have  now  to  speak  when 
taken  in  connection  with  the  returns  of  the  manufac- 
tures of  the  country.  In  the  Secretary's  report  on 
the  cotton  trade,  it  is  stated  that  the  quantity  of  cot- 
ton of  domestic  manufacture  is  very  considerable,  but 
that  no  data  present  themselves  for  estimating  it,  and 
in  "  Messrs.  Barry  and  Benton's  statistical  view  of  the 
number  of  sheep,"  a  rough  estimate  is  made  of  the 
quantity  of  wool  of  domestic  manufacture  in  three 
states,  which  we  have  extracted  in  another  place.  Of 
these  two  great  branches  of  domestic  industry,  no 
means  are  at  hand  by  which  they  can  be  valued,  and 
we  think  that  by  having  accurate  returns  made  of  the 
quantity  of  raw  material  produced  in  each  district, 
and  then  subtracting  the  quantity  exported  and  that 
consumed  in  manufactories,  the  residue  will  be  the 
amount  reserved  for  domestic  use.  In  Pennsylvania 
the  estimated  amount  of  domestic  consumption  is 
more  than  half  the  quantity  supposed  to  be  produced, 
and  in  some  districts  of  the  south,  cotton  may  be 
consumed  to  an  almost  equally  great  extent.  And 

14 


106  AGRICULTURAL    STATISTICS. 

let  it  not  be  thought  that  because  such  manufactures 
do  not  swell  any  statement  of  the  national  productive 
industry,  and  because  they  cannot  be  reduced  to  a 
monied  value  and  accurately  portrayed,  that  they  are 
trifling  in  their  character  and  unworthy  of  considera- 
tion, for  in  many  features  they  are  to  be  admired  and 
many  substantial  reasons  might  be  given  for  having 
every  encouragement  extended  to  them.  They  are 
the  product  generally  of  labour  which  would  other- 
wise be  unemployed,  and  though  they  cou]jj  not  be 
produced  for  the  general  market  at  as  low  a  price  as 
manufactories  can  send  them  out,  yet  they  form  a 
decided  increase  to  the  national  wealth,  and  if  the 
labour  expended  on  them  were  to  be  diverted,  no 
other  channel  in  which  it  could  flow  can  be  suggested. 
They  are  chiefly  produced 'by  the  females  in  the 
country,  who  besides  their  household  labours  have 
time  and  opportunity  to  pursue  them,  during  those 
hours,  when  "the  busy  house-wife  plies  her  evening 
care,"  and  during  the  inclement  weather  of  the  winter, 
when  the  whole  family  contribute  their  share  to  the 
domestic  industry.  And  if  in  addition  to  these  advan- 
tages, they  have  the  tendency  to  keep  a  family 
united  under  the  same  roof  where  the  respective 
duties  of  life  are  regarded,  and  its  affections  and 
courtesies  interchanged,  instead  of  consigning  all 
the  young  women  to  some  distant  cotton  or  wool- 
len factory,  they  are  exercising  a  very  healthy 
influence  upon  the  morality  of  the  country.  Now 
these  returns  of  the  number  of  sheep  raised  in  each 
small  section,  with  ths  average  weight  of  the  wool 
they  produced,  would  enable  the  statist  to  determine 
with  very  considerable  accuracy  the  amount,  extent 


AGRICULTURAL    STATISTICS.  107 

and  value  of  the  domestic  industry  of  the  country,  a 
thing  which  at  present  is  entirely  overlooked  in  the 
statements  of  the  consumption,  either  of  the  raw 
material  or  of  the  manufactured  article,  and  taken  in 
connection  writh  the  number  of  fulling  mills,  we 
could  ascertain  the  amount  of  wool  manufactured 
in  the  different  districts  by  household  industry. 
SWINE. — In  this  country  the  number  kept  is  sup- 
posed to  be  very  great,  though  we  are  surprised  to 
find  that  the  number  of  hogs  reported  in  the  state  of 
New- York,  is  smaller  than  the  number  of  neat  cattle, 
which  we  are  inclined  to  attribute  to  error.  At  least 
200,000  are  slaughtered  in  Cincinnati,  in  the  course 
of  six  weeks  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  and  while  in 
1837  the  export  of  beef  was  only  valued  at  $585,146, 
the  value  of  pork,  &c.,  exported  was  $1,299,796. 
From  this  extent  of  exportation  we  would  be  inclined 
to  think  that  the  amount  of  pork  produced  was  equal, 
if  not  greater  than  that  of  beef,  but  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  the  same  numerical  amount  of  ani- 
mals, would  furnish  a  much  greater  supply  of  provis- 
ion ;  and  as  in  the  former  case  we  estimated  that  not 
more  than  one  fifth  were  annually  killed,  in  the 
present  case  nearly  one  half  of  the  enumerated  num- 
ber are  yearly  destroyed.  This  makes  a  great  differ- 
ence, and  from  the  same  number  of  hogs  as  there  are 
cattle,  the  one  being  estimated  to  weigh  200  Ibs.,  the 
other  500  Ibs.,  we  would  have  the  same  amount  of 
provision  annually  furnished.  The  number  raised 
(or  rather  perhaps  in  this  and  the  other  returns  the 
number  possessed  at  the  time  of  inquiry  would  be  a 
more  suitable  form  for  the  question)  might  easily  be 
ascertained,  and  we  would  then  be  possessed  of 


108  AGRICULTURAL    STATISTICS. 

another  means  of  approximating  to  the  actual  amount 
of  live  stock. 

MULES. — In  some  of  the  mountainous  coal  regions, 
in  the  south  and  south  west,  these  animals  are  used 
to  a  considerable  extent  and  bear  a  higher  value  than 
ordinary  horses.  In  the  returns  for  New  Jersey, 
above  quoted,  they  are  united  with  the  horses,  and 
perhaps  it  might  be  as  well  not  to  make  any  distinc- 
tion here,  but  have  "  horses  and  mules"  in  one  divis- 
ion, as  they  are  contained  in  one  entry  in  the  sum- 
mary of  the  exports  of  the  United  States,  a  great 
many  being  annually  sent  to  the  West  India  Islands. 
As  they  occupy  the  same  position  in  the  domestic 
economy  as  the  horse,  a  separate  return  would  not 
serve  any  practical  end. 

In  the  last  few  articles  referred  to,  the  live  stock  of 
the  country,  and  their  value,  &c.,  there  have  been 
always  some  rude  and  it  may  be  very  incorrect  esti- 
mate before  the  public,  but  of  the  quantity  and  vari- 
ety of  the  cereal  grasses  and  other  vegetable  produc- 
tions at  present  raised,  not  even  the  slightest  estimate 
has,  we  believe,  been  attempted.  The  information 
would  be  most  useful,  and  we  think  may  easily  be 
attained  by  inquiries  from  the  farmers  throughout  each 
district,  as  at  present  the  most  lamentable  ignorance 
of  the  whole  subject  exists.  It  is  not  even  known 
how  much  of  the  land  in  many  of  the  states  is  under 
cultivation,  or  how  great  the  extent  of  territory 
actually  is.  Even  in  England,  small  and  densely 
peopled  as  it  is,  the  estimates  of  the  area  have 
varied  greatly. 
Anciently  England  was  thought  to 

contain  -       -        -          29,000,000  acres, 


AGRICULTURAL    STATISTICS.  109 

Gregory  King,  computed  it  at  39,000,000  acres, 

Arthur  Young,       "        "        "          46,000,000      " 
Dr.  Beeke,  "       "        "          38,498,572      " 

McCulloch,  "        "         "          37,098,572       " 

If  we  find  England  vary  so  much  in  her  estimated 
area,  where  all  the  means  of  accurate  information 
abound,  it  cannot  be  wondered  at  that  many  of  the 
states  in  this  newer  country  are  but  imperfectly  esti- 
mated. In  the  west,  where  the  lines  bounding  the 
states  run  at  right  angles,  and  where  the  divisions 
follow  the  directions  of  the  boundary,  little  error  can 
occur,  but  in  the  eastern  states  no  such  facilities  pre- 
sent themselves,  and  the  greatest  discrepancy  pre- 
vails. In  the  small  state  of  New- Jersey,  for  instance, 
Morse  allows  5,324,800,  Smith,  4,800,000,  Darby, 
4,384,000,  exactly  one-fifth  less  than  Morse ;  and 
Gordon  makes  4,656,330  acres,  which,  from  some  in- 
quiries, we  believe  to  be  nearly  correct.  Now  we 
do  not  purpose  to  discover  the  area  of  the  whole 
state  by  these  returns,  but  we  hope  to  find  the  quan- 
tity under  actual  cultivation,  which  at  present  is  in  far 
greater  darkness  than  the  whole  area.  By  the  asses- 
sors' returns  in  some  states,  it  may  be  gathered  to  be 
as  follows :  in  the  state  of  New- York,  one-third  of 
the  whole  land  is  cultivated,  and  in  the  state  of 
New- Jersey,  only  one-fourth  is  improved ;  but  these 
estimates  are  not  of  general  application. 

But  if  the  whole  quantity  of  land  under  cultiva- 
tion is  unknown,  the  relative  proportion  of  the  differ- 
ent cultivated  cereal  grasses  is  likewise  a  mystery. 
The  difference  of  climate,  soil  and  situation,  all  con- 
tribute to  make  the  kinds  and  proportions  of  the 
vegetable  productions  vary  greatly,  and  it  would  be 


110  AGRICULTURAL  STATISTICS. 

quite  impossible  to  form  any  general  calculation  of 
the  productions  of  the  different  states,  unless  each, 
state  were  separately  considered.  In  England  little 
certainly  is  known  about  the  agricultural  products, 
and  the  following  table,  formed  merely  by  estimate, 
can  afford  but  little  criterion  by  which  to  judge,  even 
of  the  middle  states. 

The  proportion  which  the  wheat  land  bears  to  all 
other  crops,  is  about  31,66  crop  val'd.  at  £30,675,000 
Barley  and  Rye,      7,50  "       lt       5,400,000 

Oats  and  Beans,     25,00  "       "      16,875,000 

Clover,  10,83)         B       „      181MOOO 

Roots,  > 


£66,275,000 
Hops,  1,25 

Fallow,  13,75 

Although  such  are  the  estimated  proportions  of 
land  under  the  different  crops  in  England,  we  are  far 
from  stating  it  as  an  approach  to  the  actual  condition 
of  any  part  of  this  country.  But  we  must  regret  that 
no  documents  exist  from  which  even  the  remotest  es- 
timate can  be  formed  of  the  produce  of  the  agricul- 
tural labour  of  this  country,  or  the  kinds  of  produce 
upon  which  it  is  chiefly  expended. 

WHEAT. — The  value,  extent  and  average  produc- 
tion of  this  great  staple  of  our  country,  may  easily  be 
learned  by  requiring  of  the  farmers,  accurate  or  prox- 
imate returns  of  the  number  of  acres  under  crop  the 
last  year,  and  the  average  quantity  per  acre  of  pro- 
duce. It  is  needless  in  this  and  the  following  sub- 
jects to  reiterate  the  complaint  of  want  of  informa- 
tion, we  therefore  conclude  by  giving  an  estimate  of 


AGRICULTURAL    STATISTICS.  Ill 

what  the  extent  and  value  of  the  wheat  crop  in  New- 
York  may  have  been  in  1835,  founded  on  the  table 
above,  and  the  marshal's  returns  of  that  state  in 
1835.  There  was  $17,687,009  worth  of  raw  pro- 
duce manufactured  at  the  mills  there,  and  supposing 
that  the  wheat  in  New- York  state  produced  the 
same  proportional  value  to  the  other  crops  as  it  did 
in  England,  we  would  have  $8,240,000  as  the  value 
of  the  raw  wheat,  which  as  the  price  that  year 
averaged  about  $1  would  give  the  same  number  of 
bushels. 

BARLEY. — Very  little  of  this  grain  is  produced  in 
this  country,  and  that  is  consumed  wholly  in  the  dis- 
tillery. It  is  said  that  the  introduction  of  potatoes  in 
the  manufacture  of  spirit  has  diminished  the  amount 
of  barley  raised.  The  more  general  use  of  this  grain, 
especially  where  the  wheat  crop  has  been  thrown  out 
during  the  winter,  would  be  a  great  improvement,  and 
the  grain,  when  steamed,  may  be  very  advantageously 
employed  in  feeding  horses  or  cattle,  during  the 
winter. 

RYE. — As  a  substitute  for  wheat,  where  the  climate 
or  soil  will  not  admit  of  the  more  valuable  grain,  and 
as  the  chief  article  of  food  in  many  districts  of  the 
country  among  the  labouring  classes,  the  statistics  of 
the  cultivation  of  this  grain  would  be  very  interesting. 
$165,457  worth  of  rye  meal  was  exported  in  1837. 

OATS. — In  the  eastern  and  middle  states,  this  grain 
constitutes  the  principal  food  of  horses,  and  in  some 
of  the  western  states  the  quantity  raised  is  considera- 
ble, but  both  there  and  in  the  south,  the  use  of  Indian 
corn  interferes  with  the  consumption  of  this  grain. 


112  AGRICULTURAL   STATISICS. 

BUCKWHEAT. — This  grain,  not  enumerated  in  the 
English  returns,  is  used  to  a  considerable  extent  in 
this  country.  It  is  a  valuable  crop,  as  it  enriches  the 
land  by  preventing  the  heat  of  summer  from  scorch- 
ing it ;  it  is  also  useful  for  various  domestic  purposes. 
This  grain  is  not  supposed  to  be  used  to  any  extent 
for  distillation. 

INDIAN  CORN. — It  may  be  difficult  to  say  whether 
wheat  or  maize  is  the  great  staple  of  the  agricultural 
interest  in  this  country,  and  we  believe  that  as  we 
refer  to  the  north  or  to  the  south,  each  in  its  turn  may 
claim  the  honour.  This  is  certainly  the  most  valuable 
grain  which  the  country  possesses,  and  one  of  the 
compensating  advantages  which  the  American  has 
over  the  English  farmer,  for  the  length  of  his  win- 
ter and  the  excessive  heat  of  his  summer.  The 
quantity  of  wheat  exported  is  much  greater  than  that 
of  Indian  corn,  about  two-thirds  more.  But  this  is 
no  criterion  of  the  value  of  the  crop,  as  its  chief  ex- 
cellence consists  in  furnishing  a  green  crop  of  great 
service  to  the  land,  and  an  abundant  return  of  grain  in 
harvest ;  and  indeed  as  a  green  crop,  it  supplies  the 
place  which  turnips  and  potatoes  occupy  to  a  great 
extent  in  England. 

POTATOES. — The  extent  and  produce  of  this  crop 
can  easily  be  known,  and  although  it  does  not  occupy 
the  same  prominent  place  in  the  agricultural  returns 
of  this  country  as  in  some  parts  of  Europe,  it  is  never- 
theless extensively  cultivated. 

HAY. — The  returns  of  this  article  may  be  more 
difficult,  and  perhaps  it  may  be  questioned  whether 
any  queries  should  be  put  regarding  it,  and  if  they 
should  be  inserted,  it  will  be  well  to  divide  the  table 


AGRICULTURAL  STATISTICS.  113 

into  two  divisions,  the  one  the  quantity  of  natural  or 
meadow  hay,  the  other  the  quantity  of  hay  from 
clover  and  fresh  grass. 

The  above  information  might  be  easily  procured 
and  would  be  of  infinite  service,  as  it  would  exhibit 
more  clearly  the  various  interests  which  are  perpetu- 
ally striving  to  maintain  their  place  in  the  general 
improvement  of  the  country.  If  the  general  govern- 
ment should  institute  a  board  of  agriculture  as  they 
now  contemplate,  with  an  agricultural  museum,  the 
value  of  knowing  the  comparative  extent  and  pro- 
gress of  the  several  cultures  will  readily  be  apparent. 

The  average  productiveness  of  the  different  crops 
must  necessarily  be  inquired  into,  as  well  as  the  number 
of  acres  under  culture.  In  England,  McCulloch  esti- 
mates the  return  of  wheat  per  acre,  at  21  bushels,  bar- 
ley 32,  oats  36,  potatoes  250  bushels.  In  this  country, 
the  immense  extent  of  territory,  and  the  difference  of 
climate  necessarily  preclude  any  general  average  from 
being  taken,  at  which  to  estimate  the  actual  returns  of 
the  whole  country.  And  it  must  also  be  remembered 
that  in  England,  and  especially  in  Scotland,  they  have 
accurate  thrashing  machines  which  alone  are  estima- 
ted to  rescue  from  loss  otherwise  unavoidable, 
5,204,000  bushels  of  wheat  (this  calculation  is  made 
on  the  supposition  that  they  are  quite  universal,  which 
they  are  not,)  and  in  this  country  the  greater  part  of 
the  thrashing  is  done  upon  moveable  thrashing  floors ; 
the  crop,  often  not,  stored  in  barns,  or  drawn  over 
very  rough  roads  before  its  produce  is  ascertained. 
Whatever  may  be  the  quantity  of  American  grain, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  quality  and  perfection 
in  which  some  of  the  species  are  produced  Hall,  in 

15 


114  AGRICULTURAL   STATISTICS, 

his  statistics  of  the  west,  speaks  of  having  seen  a 
bushel  of  wheat  weigh  68  Ibs.  to  the  bushel,  and  on 
another  occasion  one  that  weighed  67  Ibs.  But  the 
returns  would  be  too  uncertain,  were  we  to  desire  that 
the  weight  per  bushel  should  be  reported,  and  we 
merely  notice  this  fact  incidentally,  in  order  to  induce 
persons  throughout  the  country  to  record  the  instances 
of  extra  weight  which  ihey  happen  personally  to 
witness. 

Of  the  return  of  Indian  corn,  we  are  also  unable  to 
speak.  "If,"  says  Hall,  "  a  western  farmer  be  asked 
the  question,  bow  many  bushels  of  corn  are  raised  to 
the  acre,  the  usual  reply  is  one  hundred.  This  quan- 
tity may  be  produced  on  fine  soil,  with  assiduous  cul- 
ture, but  under  ordinary  circumstances,  with  careful 
attention,  60  bushels  is  about  the  average  crop." 

Generally  speaking,  however,  no  accurate  estimate 
can  be  formed  of  the  returns  procured  from  these 
several  crops,  till  some  uniform  data  are  aiforded 
which  may  enable  us  to  enter  more  minutely  into  the 
examination  of  this  interesting  subject. 

In  the  foregoing  subjects  of  inquiry,  the  returns 
spoken  of  are  always  made  in  measured  quantities; 
in  those  we  now  refer  to,  the  number  of  Ibs.  is  the 
standard  to  which  they  are  always  referred.  To  be- 
gin with  the  agriculture  of  Cotton.  Under  the  head 
of  the  Manufactures  of  this  article,  we  noticed  the 
able  statistical  paper  of  Mr.  Woodbury,  regarding  the 
exportation  and  manufacture  of  Cotton ;  but  it  must 
be  remarked,  that  neither  he  nor  any  other  writer  has 
touched  at  all  upon  the  agriculture  of  Cotton,  or  the 
peculiarities  which  attend  its  progress  and  growth, 
while  in  the  hands  of  the  planter.  We  refrained,  on 


AGRICULTURAL    STATISTICS.  115 

the  former  occasion,  from  making  any  extracts  from 
that  Report,  as  it  was  so  generally  circulated,  and  we 
shall  not  now  have  recourse  to  it,  as  every  one 
knows  the  rapid  increase  of  this  source  of  wealth, 
which  in  1794  began  to  exist,  and  last  year  exported 
to  foreign  shores  $60,000,000  worth  of  raw  mate- 
rial. But  we  wish  to  refer  to  some  interesting  de- 
tails which  may  be  elicited  in  the  course  of  inqui- 
ries into  the  history  and  condition  of  this  crop.  It  is 
well  known,  that  but  for  the  invention  of  Whitney, 
the  cultivation  of  Cotton  on  upland  countries,  would 
never  have  reached  its  present  extent,  and  experience 
has  proved  that  that  machine  is  effective.  This  is 
now  a  matter  of  history,  and  at  all  times  it  was  easily 
tested  by  mechanical  principles,  or  in  actual  practice. 
But  there  is  at  present  another  momentous  question 
in  the  course  of  being  solved,  to  which  we  invite  the 
attention  of  the  statist ;  and  that  is,  whether  Cotton 
can  ever  productively  become  the  produce  of  free  la- 
bour ?  At  present  we  disregard  the  question  of  the 
propriety  or  policy  of  Slave  labour,  as  totally  foreign 
to  our  subject ;  we  seek  to  have  some  data  to  inquire 
into  its  economy,  and  we  think  we  may  be  able  to 
discover  some  elements  by  which  to  estimate  the  re- 
sult in  this  great  principle  now  becoming  noticed  in 
the  production  of  Cotton.  Let  us,  as  an  illustration,  in- 
stance some  facts,  supposed  to  be  deduced  from  the  re- 
turns made  to  Congress,  which  we  have  suggested  as 
practicable  and  useful.  We  take  the  cases  of  two 
Counties  in  Georgia,  merely  as  suitable  for  our  pur- 
pose in  the  distribution  of  their  population,  without  any 
regard  to  their  actual  condition,  viz.  Hall  and  Jones 
Counties  ;  in  these,  by  the  last  census,  there  were, 


116  AGRICULTURAL    STATISTICS. 

HALL.  JONES. 

White  Males  5297  3364 

do.  Females  5265  3107 

Slaves  1182  6829 

Free  Blacks  4  45 


11,748  13,345 

In  Hall  County  the  whites  are  ten  times  more  nu- 
merous than  the  blacks  ;  in  the  other,  Jones  County, 
they  are  not  quite  so  numerous  as  the  blacks.  Such 
data  are  ascertained  by  the  census7  returns,  but  we 
can  go  no  further;  we  cannot  determine  theJnfluence 
which  such  a  different  political  organization  exercises 
upon  the  products  of  the  soil.  Now  if  we  could  know 
the  exact  production  of  each  district,  as,  for  instance, 
that  Hall  County  raised  10,000  Ibs.  of  Cotton,  and 
that  Jones  County  raised  12,000,  we  would  be  able 
to  see  the  influence  which  free  white  labour  had  in 
the  agriculture  of  Cotton,  and  if,  at  the  next  decimal 
period,  the  ratio  of  production  had  increased  faster  in 
proportion  to  the  population  in  Hall,  than  in  Jones, 
or,  vice  versa,  we  would  be  able  to  detect  the  results 
of  such  different  distributions  of  labour.  The  ques- 
tion is  one  of  very  great  interest,  and  regarding  it  no 
settled  opinion  can  be  entertained  ;  till  some  crite- 
rion exists  by  which  to  examine  it. 

In  addition  to  the  solution  of  this  interesting  ques- 
tion in  political  economy,  we  will  have  the  same  kind 
of  information  regarding  Cotton  of  which  we  spoke 
when  referring  to  Wool.  "The  farmers  in  Illinois, 
Missouri,  and  the  Southern  parts  of  Indiana  and 
Kentucky,  raise  Cotton  for  home  consumption.  They 
make  all  they  use,  and  most  of  their  families  are  clad 


AGRICULTURAL  STATISTICS.  117 

in  Cotton  fabrics  mannfactured  at  home."*  Now  to 
what  extent  this  home  manufacture  extends,  and  of 
what  value  it  is  to  the  community,  the  statist  is  una- 
ble to  determine;  but  whenever  the  number  of 
pounds  of  Cotton  raised,  is  determined,  we  will  be 
able  to  approximate  to  the  amount  consumed  in  the 
country.  As  returns  of  the  quantity  of  Cotton  could 
easily  be  procured,  and  as  it  would  cast  a  useful 
light  over  two  subjects  of  investigation,  we  hope  to 
find  this  return  included  with  the  others. 

Culture  of  Tobacco. 

In  an  interesting  article  on  this  trade,  in  the  Ame- 
rican Almanac  for  1838,  we  find  the  following  no- 
tices :  The  annual  average  exportation  for  the  last 
21  years,  from  1815  to  1835  inclusive,  is  within  a 
fraction  of  82,760  hogsheads.  Taking  our  estimate 
of  1,200  Ibs.  per  hogshead  to  be  the  true  weight,  we 
have  thus  99,3 13,000  Ibs.  as  the  annual  average  of 
the  last  21  years ;  and  we  have  seen  that  the  annual 
average  exportation  for  the  4  years  ending  in  and  in- 
cluding 1775,  was  99,374,785  Ibs.,  which  establishes 
the  remarkable  fact,  that  the  exportation  of  the  leaf 
Tobacco,  has  remained  stationary  for  a  period  of  60 
years.  "  The  revolutionary  war  seems  to  have  given 
a  check  to  the  growth  of  this  plant,  from  which  it 
never  recovered ;  as  during  its  continuance  many 
continental  nations,  which  had  previously  depended 
entirely  upon  the  supply  from  this  country,  turned 
their  attention  to  the  domestic  cultivation  of  the  plant, 
and  have  ever  since  continued  to  supply  their  own 
market." 

*  Hall's  Statistics  of  the  West. 


118  AGRICULTURAL    STATISTICS. 

If  the  exportation  of  this  article  has  been  station- 
ary, the  consumption  of  it  at  home  seems  to  have 
kept  pace  with  the  progress  of  population.  "  For- 
merly, when  all  the  Tobacco  was  grown  in  Virginia 
and  Maryland,  we  exported  as  much  as  we  do  now, 
and  now,  in  addition  to  those  States,  which  produce 
nearly,  if  not  quite  as  much,  as  they  did  then,  Ohio, 
Kentucky,  and  Tenessee,  together  with  Connecticut, 
Pennsylvania,  Indiana  and  Missouri,  produce  as 
much  more.  We  must,  therefore,  consume  more 
than  the  quantity  required  for  exportation." 

"The Rev.  Mr.  O.  Fowler,  from  considerable  atten- 
tion to  the  statistics  of  Tobacco  consumption  in 
the  United  States,  estimates  the  annual  cost  at 
$10,000,000;"  but  on  what  data  he  founds  his  con- 
clusion we  are  not  informed. 

As  the  culture  of  this  plant  extends  throughout  all 
the  country,  and  is  said  to  flourish  particularly  in  the 
West,  "  a  few  hogsheads  sent  from  Kaskaskia  (Illi- 
nois) to  New-Orleans,  some  years  since,  was  pro- 
nounced by  the  inspector  to  be  the  best  ever  brought 
to  that  market,"*  it  would  be  interesting  to  observe  its 
progress,  and  as  it  is  said  to  exhaust  the  soil  rapidly, 
we  may  be  able  to  trace  its  march  westward  in 
search  of  virgin  soil,  leaving  the  tracts  on  the  sea- 
board either  to  be  overrun  with  brushwood  or  be  cul- 
tivated for  grains.  At  present,  it  is  impossible  to  de- 
termine the  consumption  of  this  plant,  and,  till  the 
whole  quantity  produced  is  determined,  all  conjec- 
ture must  necessarily  be  vague. 

*  Am.  Almanac,  1838— Hall's  Statistics  of  the  West. 


AGRICULTURAL    STATISTICS.  119 

Culture  of  Rice. 

This  valuable  grain,  like  Tobacco,  has  been  very 
stationary  in  the  amount  of  its  export, — the  value  of 
the  export  in  1807  being  $2,367,000,  and  thirty  years 
afterwards,  or  in  1837,  being  $2,309,279.  The  quan- 
tity raised  and  consumed  in  this  country,  is  unknown, 
but  could  easily  be  determined  by  reference  to  the  re- 
turns of  the  Marshals  for  each  district,  and,  as  the 
other  cereal  grasses  and  grains  are  all  noticed,  Rice 
had  better  be  included,  though,  from  its  character, 
more  information  could  be  gathered  regarding  it  than 
about  any  other  agricultural  production,  without  spe- 
cific returns. 

Culture  of  Sugar. 

Although,  for  our  part,  inclined  to  doubt  the  poli- 
cy which  has  increased  the  Sugar  culture  in  this 
country,  we  will  quote  a  short  account  of  the  pro- 
duction from  Pitkin's  Statistics.  "To  encourage 
its  production,  it  will  be  remembered  that  in  1816 
an  addition  of  half  a  cent  was  laid  on  imported 
brown  Sugar,  making  the  whole  duty  about  three 
cents,  and  experience  has  proved  the  policy  of  the 
measure.  The  average  quantity  of  foreign  Sugar 
annually  consumed  in  the  United  States,  from  1820  to 
1830,  was  57,000,000  of  pounds,  and  the  whole  quan- 
tity consumed  about  140,000,000 — being  83,000,000 
as  the  production  of  Louisiana,  which  will  soon  fur- 
nish Sugar  enough  for  the  whole  consumption  of  the 
United  States." — Pitkin's  Statistics,  499. 


120 


AGRICULTURAL    STATISTICS. 


In  this  cursory  notice  of  the  principal  agricultural 
products,  it  may  be  thought  that  we  have  enumerated 
some  which,  from  their  comparatively  limited  culti- 
vation, it  were  better  to  have  omitted ;  but  the  vast 
interest  to  the  community,  of  the  progress  of  agricul- 
ture, make  it  very  desirable  to  have  not  only  the  re- 
turns of  the  principal  crops,  but  of  those  also  which 
are  cultivated  to  a  smaller  extent.  And,  although 
the  subjects  enumerated,  are  numerous,  they  can  be 
simply  classified  as  in  the  following  table  : 


LIVE  [STOCK 

OF    ALL    AGES. 

VARIOUS    CROPS. 

column. 

J£ 

1 

•S 

I 

e 

-C 

c 

d 

13 

a 

.S 

rr 

c 

1 

6 

o.  of  Horses  and  Mules 

o.  of  neat  Cattle,  except 

o.  of  Cows  giving  Milk. 

o.  of  Sheep. 

o.  of  Swine. 

o  of  acres  of  Wheat 

verage  produce  per  acre 

o.  of  acres  of  Ba  ley 

o 

o 
eS 

1 

§ 
| 
a. 

& 

a 

1 

o.  of  acres  of  Oats 

verage  produce  per  acre. 

i> 
>, 

X 

o 

Z 

i 

"5 

0 

veiage  produce  per  acre. 

».  of  acres  of  Buckwheat 

verage  produce  per  acre. 

o.  of  acres  <if  Indian  Cor 

verage  produce  per  acre. 

o.  of  ac  PS  of  Potatoes 

veiage  produce  per  acre. 

t).  of  acres  of  Hay 

ve  age  p  oduce  per  acre  i 

1 

be 

* 

£ 
% 

6 

D.  of  fts.  of  Tobacco  gath 

o.  of  fts.  of  Rice  gathered 

o.  of  fcs.  of  Sugar  made. 

z 

•z 

2 

* 

K 

2: 

< 

Z 

< 

< 

< 

<Z 

< 

z 

< 

^ 

< 

<£. 

< 

z; 

< 

* 

g 

as 

& 

121 


OCCUPATIONS 
IN  WHICH  THE  INHABITANTS  ARE  ENGAGED. 

In  our  former  notice  of  Manufactures,  we  limited 
the  term  to  the  wholesale  fabrication  of  the  raw  ma- 
terial into  the  finished  article  ;  and  here  we  propose 
to  establish  some  data,  by  which  to  estimate  the 
amount  and  nature  of  the  retail  trade  in  the  country. 
The   information  under  the  other  head,  we  intend 
should  be  derived  entirely  from  the  answers  of  those 
possessing  or  managing  manufactories ;  the  informa- 
tion we  at  present  seek,  will  be  obtained  by  direct 
questions  to  the  workmen  themselves.     In  the  other 
returns  we  had  the  number  of  workmen  engaged,  in 
many  manufactures,  as  for  instance,  of  leather,  we 
will  now  have  the  same  individuals  returned  again, 
with  the  addition  of  those  who  work  in  leather,  but 
not  in  manufactories,  as  the  retail  shoemakers,  sad- 
dlers and  trunk -makers.     It  were  well  if  this  repeti- 
tion could  have  been  avoided,  but  we  think  that  the 
difficulty  of  having  the  separation  preserved  through- 
out the  various  trades  and  occupations,  would  be  so 
great  as  to  defeat  the  object  of  these  returns.     If  the 
returns  therefore,  are  made  by  combining  the  two, 
namely,  those  who  work  for  the  wholesale,  and  those 
who  work  for  the  retail  trade,  as  we  have  already  the 
former  numbered  in  the  returns  from  the  manufac- 
turers, by  simple  subtraction,  we  have  the  number 
engaged  in  the  various  trades  throughout  the  country. 
And  the  reason  for  making  this  distinction,  we  have 
16 


122  OCCUPATION    OP    THE    INHABITANTS. 

already  stated  to  be  the  importance  of  gaining  sta- 
tistical information  regarding  some  of  the  larger 
manufactures,  which  it  is  fruitless  to  seek  to  obtain, 
relative  to  the  smaller  trades.  In  the  former  returns, 
we  desired  to  know  the  value  of  the  manufactured 
and  raw  materials,  the  capital  invested,  and  other 
particulars  of  the  traffic  which  it  is  quite  impossible 
to  learn  regarding  the  various  handicrafts,  and  occupa- 
tions throughout  the  country,  and  which,  if  attempted, 
would  swell  the  returns  to  an  interminable  length. 

Such  being  the  different  kind  of  information  at 
which  we  aim,  let  us  now  inquire  into  the  extent  of 
useful  insight  which  the  proposed  returns  will  give 
us,  into  the  internal  economy  of  the  country. 

The  distinction  which  some  popular  authors  and 
political  leaders,  seek  to  establish  between  ''the  pro- 
ducing and  consuming  classes,  as  false  in  theory  and 
vicious  in  its  application,  we  cannot  admit  of  here, 
however  convenient  such  a  general  classification 
might  have  been.  But  we  will  be  able  to  find  from 
these  returns,  the  proportion  which  those  who  prac- 
tice the  liberal  professions  bear  to  those  who  are 
engaged  in  either  manufactures,  commerce,  or  agri- 
culture, and  also  the  number  engaged  in  each  of 
these  general  divisions  of  labour.  So  many  causes 
combine  to  form  the  habits  of  a  people,  and  external 
circumstances,  whether  of  climate  or  soil,  are  so  very 
powerful  in  their  influence,  that  it  must  always  be 
difficult  to  examine  the  subject  in  detail,  yet  an  accu- 
rate statistical  table  of  the  employment  of  a  whole 
community,  will  form  a  very  interesting  foundation 
for  such  an  inquiry.  Pure  statistical  information  is 
a  very  valuable  source  of  knowledge ;  estimates, 


OCCUPATION    OP    THE    INHABITANTS.  123 

founded  probably  upon  some  latent  theory,  are  ex- 
tremely embarrassing,  and  such  alone  prevail,  regard- 
ing the  number  of  persons  engaged  in  the  different 
leading  branches  of  industry  in  this  country.  In  the 
returns  for  1810,  there  was  a  general  classification 
made  of  the  leading  occupations,  of  agriculture, 
manufactures,  and  commerce,  which  presented  the 
following  result : 

There  was  about  83  per  cent,  of  the  population  en- 
gaged in  agriculture ;  14  in  manufactures;  3  in  com- 
merce. 

While  in  England,  in  1810,  there  were  about  33 
per  cent  engaged  in  agriculture  ;  46  in  manufactures ; 
21  not  engaged  in  agriculture  or  trade. 

And  in  France,  in  1817,  the  Count  Laborde  estima- 
ted that  there  were  about  60  per  cent,  of  the  popula- 
tion engaged  in  agriculture;  22  in  manufactures  ;  15 
in  various  employments ;  3  indigent. 

Or  in  England,  5-15ths  of  the  population  provide 
food  for  the  community ;  in  France,  9-15ths  ;  in  the 
United  States,  12-15ths  are  required  to  maintain  the 
community :  which  would  argue  a  very  different 
state  of  society  from  that  prevailing  in  England,  as 
the  whole  amount  of  agricultural  products  exported 
(in  1837,  $14,000,000,  or  the  tenth  of  the  imports) 
does  not  by  any  means  account  for  the  difference. 

This  return  we  propose,  should  be  made  by  direct 
information  obtained  by  the  deputy,  and  that  after 
having  marked  down  the  age  of  the  person,  he  should 
ask  "  how  he  got  his  livelihood,"  and  according  to  his 
answer,  note  him  down  under  some  of  the  heads  in 
the  following  table.  We  can  foresee  no  difficulty  in 
making  this  examination,  and  the  information  obtain- 


124  OCCUPATION    OF   THE    INHABITANTS. 

ed,  as  showing  the  relative  strength  of  the  different 
trades  and  occupations  throughout  this  country,  the 
state  of  their  division  and  local  distribution  would  be 
exceedingly  valuable,  and  wrould  enable  the  statist, 
united    with   the  separate  returns    of  the  leading 
manufactures,  to  obtain  very  correct  impressions  of 
the  value  of  the  internal  industry   of  the  country, 
and  would  show  in  a  considerable  degree,  the  habits 
of  the  people.     Under  the  head  of  bakers,  for  exam- 
ple, we  would  learn  the  domestic  habits  of  different 
sections  of  the  community,  as  we  believe,  in  New- 
York,    almost   all   the   population  buy  their  bread, 
while  in  Baltimore,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  chiefly 
made  in  families.     This  is  a  trifling  illustration,  but 
merely  one  of  many  which  might  be  given  to  show 
some  of  the  collateral  information  which  might  be 
gathered  from  such  a  table,  at  the  same  time  that  it 
was  contributing  greatly  to  the  knowledge  of  the  gen- 
eral economy  of  the  country.      We  have  said  that 
such  a  return  might  easily  be  obtained,  and  yet  in 
taking  the  census  for    1810,  the  returns   exhibited 
great  marks  of  carelessness.     For  example,  as  men- 
tioned by  Dr.  Seybert,  there  were  only  110  printing 
offices  returned,  when  it  is  known  that  there  were 
upwards  of  400.     In  that  return,  however,  the  differ- 
ent way  in  which  the  query  was  put,  makes  us  hope 
for  more  success  if  this  one  is  considered  a  second 
enumeration  of  the  people,  according  to  their  trades 
or  occupations,  as  the  first  enumeration  was  accord- 
ing to  their  ages.     We  annex  a  table  from  Cleland's 
Statistics,  which  will  show  how  satisfactory  such  in- 
formation may  be  made,  when  under  the  direction  of 
a  skilful  agent. 


125 

Occupations  in  which  the  Population  of  the  City  and  Suburbs  of  Glas- 
gow were  engaged  in  1831.     Whole  population  202,426. 


I! 


2659 


1702 


4! 

go 


494 


II 

£ 


629 


|  8 

bD 

<5 


544 


I! 


DO  a 


1319        459 


21 

35 


573      1753    15,217 


1231 


12 


II 


II 


I 
! 


a 

I 

1! 


I 

to 


1664        359        892        924      1552 


584        761 


1947 


474 


2715 


497 


S 

<U  J£ 

SB 


s    .s 

ts  a£ 


OQ  | 

s    3 


u"  JS 

i! 
II 


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£•08 

es  C  C 
05  rtCO 


it 


277   232   501   349   313    322   2128   321   3093   1063   456 


1127 


1 
I 


H 

II 

£  s 
"S 

If 


l 


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58 

H  2 

c  ® 

jl 


409   1093   2913   582   411   1276   716   254   6614   1487   1254   6361  103,00 


S 
3 


The  whole  population  between  10  and  70  years  being  143,142,  there  are  40,141  persons  not 
engaged  in  trade,  including  householders,  and  domestic  servants,  &c. 


126  OCCUPATION   OP   THE    INHABITANTS. 

While  on  the  other  hand,  the  same  returns,  made* 
under  the  same  act  of  Parliament,  when  not  prop- 
erly directed,  presented  a  number  of  the  grossest 
absurdities.  According  to  some  returns  appended  to 
the  British  census  of  183  lr  it  would  appear  that  there 
were  only  295  males,  upwards  of  20  years  of  age, 
employed  as  bleachers  in  England,  and  one  in  Scot- 
land. It  is  also  stated  in  the  same  table,  that  there 
is  not  a  single  male  musical  instrument-maker  in 
Scotland,  and  three  seal  engravers ;  while  in  England, 
there  is  only  one  seal  engraver.  Such  faulty  returns 
must  show  the  necessity  of  getting  the  information 
properly  collected,  and  especially  of  having  the 
queries  well  and  judiciously  selected,  which  will  go 
far  towards  having  the  answers  correctly  returned, 
and  we  entertain  great  hopes  that  the  number  of  per- 
sons engaged  in  the  different  occupations,  will  be 
accurately  determined,  if  the  question  is  addressed 
to  each  person  as  he  is  enumerated. 

The  following  table  we  have  made  out  with  care, 
and  while  it  might  either  be  easily  lengthened  or 
curtailed  to  suit  the  views  of  those  directing  the 
census,  it  is  believed  that  it  will  be  found  to  be  as 
concise  as  is  consistent  with  accurate  information, 
and  unless  a  great  expense  is  to  be  incurred,  it  is 
thought  to  be  as  full  and  completely  subdivided  as- 
circumstances  will  admit  of. 

Professions. 

Lawyers,  Attornies,  Judges,  &c.  &c. 
Medicine,  Doctors,  Surgeons,  and  all  with  a  diploma, 
Professors  and  Teachers,  in  Colleges,  Seminaries,  &c., 
Common  School  Teachers — Males, 

"  "  «  Females, 

Engineers,  Surveyors,  &c., 
All  other  Professional  Men, 


OCCUPATION    OF   THE    INHABITANTS.  127 

Agriculturists  and  Country  Labourers. 

Farmers,  owning  or  managing  a  farm, 
Farm  Labourers,  of  all  kinds, 

Millers— Grist, 

Saw, 

Fulling, 

Plaster, 

Bark, 

Seed  and  other  kinds, 

Asheries — Pot  or  Pearl, 

Brick-Makers, 

Lime, 

Quarries — Stone, 

Miners — Coal, 

"          Metals,  &c., 
Charcoal  Burners, 
Gardeners, 
General  Labourers  or  Spademen, 

Commercial  Interests. 

Merchants  entirely  wholesale, 
Merchants       }  Dry  Goods, 
or  >  Hardware, 

Storekeepers,  )  Country  or  mixed  store, 

Druggists, 

Groceries  and  Feed  stores, — Liquors  not  retailed, 
Groceries  and  Spirit  stores — Liquors  retailed  by  the 

glass,  or  drank  on  the  premises, 
Persons  engaged  in  Transportation — -including  those 

engaged  on  canals,  railroads,  stages,  wagons,  cars, 

carts,  or  vehicles  for  the  carriage  of  goods, 
Persons  engaged  in  Transportation — including  those 

engaged  in  steamboats  and  coasting  vessels,  to  be 

enumerated  at  the  place  of  registration, 
Keepers  of  taverns,  or  hotels,  or  houses  of  entertainment, 
Keepers  of  temperance  hotels,  or  houses  of  entertainment. 

Manufacturers  and  Tradesmen. 

Bakers,  Confectioners,  Pastry-Cooks,  &c., 

Butchers,  Fishermen,  Fish-Curers,  &c., 

Brewers,  Distillers,  Cordial -makers,  Preservers,  dec., 

Brush,  Basket  or  Broom-makers,  Wire-workers, 

Button,  cloth,  silk,  or  rnetal, 

Cabinet-makers,  Upholsters,  Hair  Cushion,  Chair-makers, 

Candle-wax,  Tallow,  and  Spermaceti, 

Coopers,  of  all  kinds, 


128  OCCUPATION   OP   THE    INHABITANTS. 

Carriage,  Coach,  Stage  and  pleasure  Wagon-makers, 

Comb-makers, 

Cotton  Spinners  and  Weavers, 

Clock  and  Watch-makers, 

Cutlers,  Needle  and  Pin-makers, 

Carpenters,  house  and  general, 

Dyers,  Scourers,  and  Renovators, 

Engravers,  Map-makers  and  Artists, 

Earthen  Ware  of  all  kinds — makers  of, 

Fur- workers  and  Trimmers, 

Fire-arms — Guns,  Rifles,  Pistols,  &c., 

Glass-makers — Blowers  and  Cutters, 

Hat-makers,  Caps  of  all  kinds,  male  and  female, 

Iron-workers,  Smiths,  Nailers,  Founders,  &c., 

Leather — Boot,  Shoe  and  Slipper-makers, 

"          All  other  Manufacturers  of, 
Linen  Spinners  and  Weavers, 
Lead,  workers  in — Plumbers, 
Marble-cutters, 
Musical  Instrument -makers, 

Milliners,  Dress-makers,  Seamstresses,  Corset-makers, 
Mechanist,  Machine-makers,  and  Mill-wrights, 
Printers,  Booksellers,  Stationers,  and  Book-binders, 
Paper-makers, 

Paint-makers,  Painters,  Glaziers, 
Rope,  Cordage,  Twine  &c., — makers  of, 
Sugar  Refiners  and  Boilers, 
Salt-makers, 

Stone-cutters,  Quarry -men  and  Masons, 
Ship  and  Boat-builders,  Ship-riggers,  Caulkers,  &c., 
Tin-workers, 
Tobacco  Manufacturers, 
Tailors, 

Woollen-spinners  and  Weavers, 
Wagon-makers, 

The  object  to  be  attained  by  the  completion  of  this 
return,  is  simply  the  enumeration  of  the  persons 
engaged  in  the  trades  classified  in  such  general  ar- 
rangement as  above.  No  very  detailed  estimate  could 
perhaps  be  formed,  from  the  information  which  it 
would  afford,  but  enough  would  be  learned  to  exhibit 
the  relative  importance  of  the  various  occupations 
prevalent  in  the  country.  The  facility  with  which 
such  a  return  could  be  procured,  is  a  powerful  reason 
for  proposing  it. 


129 


PLACE    OF 


OF    THE 


POPULATION   OF  THE    UNITED     STATES 

Little  more  than  two  hundred  years  have  elapsed 
since  the  Saxon  race  established  the  first  efficient 
settlement  in  this  country.  The  United  States,  as  a 
nation,  has  no  fabulous  age,  which  she  peoples  with 
men  and  monarchs  to  vindicate  her  ancient  blood  ; 
but  dating  her  existence  from  a  tangible  epoch,  and 
continuing  to  expel  the  prior  inhabitants,  and  with 
them  all  traces  and  history  of  a  previous  settlement, 
she  points  with  decision  to  the  Puritans  of  the  North, 
to  the  Cavaliers  of  the  South,  and  the  friends  of  the 
Middle  States,  as  of  English  blood  ;  and  turns  to  the 
remoter  South,  and  to  the  interior  of  her  extended  ter- 
ritory, for  the  citizens  of  Continental  extraction.  But 
if  the  romance  of  history  is  lost,  it  is  only  that  its 
philosophy  may  be  more  apparent,  and  if  shadowy 
traditions  are  superseded  by  the  realities  of  history, 
the  value  of  the  substitute  amply  atones  for  the  ab- 
sence of  that  legendary  lore  which  forms  the  basis  of 
all  European  history,  where  the  old  chronicler,  like 
Macbeth,  in  the  vision  of  the  kings,  always  sees, 

"  Another  yet  !  a  seventh  j  I'll  see  no  more. 
And  yet  the  eighth  appears,  who  bears  a  glass, 
Which  shows  me  many  more." 

17 


130  PLACE   OP   NATIVITY. 

In  addition  to  this  remarkable  difference  in  the  his- 
tories of  Europe  and  America,  there  is  another  which 
deserves  to  be  noticed ;  that  is,  that  the  same  process 
which  led  to  the  first  settlement  of  the  country,  con- 
tinues effective  to  the  present  day;  and  instead  of 
having  distinct  periods  of  history,  like  the  Roman, 
Saxon,  Danish,  and  Norman  Governments  of  Eng- 
land, America  was  peopled,  not  by  conquest  and  set- 
tlement at  different  times,  but  by  a  gradual  influx  of 
the  redundant  population  of  Europe  into  her  terri- 
tory ;  and  whereas,  the  various  conquests  of  England 
created  different  epochs  in  her  history,  which  were 
determinate  and  appreciable  in  the  extent  of  their  in- 
fluence upon  her  laws,  language  and  habits,  the  gra- 
dual immigration  into  this  country,  still  continued,  by 
constantly,  though  imperceptibly,  varying  and  influ- 
encing the  character  of  her  inhabitants,  presents  some 
very  interesting  features  to  the  historian. 

Although  we  are  thus  exposed  to  some  peculiar 
difficulties  in  estimating  the  principles  which  are  ope- 
rating to  form  the  American  character,  the  subject  be- 
comes invested  with  interest  as  it  increases  in  in- 
tricacy, and  the  problems  which  arise  from  the  con- 
stantly influencing  effects  of  immigration,  are  of 
especial  value  to  the  student  of  national  character. 
We  are  not  aware  that  we  have  ever  seen  an  account, 
or  rather  an  estimate  of  the  descent  of  the  present  po- 
pulation of  America,  though  it  would  be  found  valuable 
in  itself,  and  interesting  in  some  of  the  collateral  prin- 
ciples which  it  would  develope.  In  the  early  history 
of  the  country,  we  find  the  English,  the  Dutch,  and 
the  Swedes,  struggling  for  ascendency  in  the  North, 
the  English,  the  French  and  the  Spaniards  effecting 


PLACE   OP     NATIVITY.  131 

settlements  on  the  Southern  coast,  and  the  gradual 
extension  of  the  English  sway  over  the  greater  part 
of  the  territory,  until,  freed  from  the  mother  country, 
the  United  States,  in  one  general  appellative,  em- 
braced the  English,  French,  Danish,  Swedish,  and 
Spanish  citizen.  The  proportion  which  these  bore  to 
each  other  at  the  Revolution,  or  on  the  acquisition  of 
the  lands  on  the  Mississippi,  we  are  utterly  unable  to 
determine,  and  though  the  interest  would  be  very 
great  were  such  information  in  existence,  we  must 
forego  the  pleasure  which  it  might  have  afforded  us, 
and  turn  to  the  condition  of  the  country  at  the  pre- 
sent time. 

At  the  Revolution,  the  bands  which  united  the  dif- 
ferent settlements  to  Europe,  were  severed,  and,  ac- 
cording to  Gen.  Washington,  "  we  kept  steadily  in 
our  view  that  which  appears  to  us  the  greatest  inter- 
est of  every  true  American,  the  consolidation  of  our 
union,  in  which  is  involved  our  prosperity,  felicity, 
safety,  perhaps  our  national  existence  ; "  and  at  that 
time  the  American  nation  became  one  people.  Had 
the  first  measure  of  Government  been  to  prohibit  the 
immigration  of  foreign  citizens,  the  data  on  which  the 
Philosophical  historian  would  have  proceeded  would 
have  been  determinate  and  easy .;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  freest  courtesies  were  extended  to  all,  and, 
in  the  language  of  Jefferson,  "  a  temple  was  erected 
to  freedom,  at  Washington,  where  all  people  were  in- 
vited to  come  and  worship."  From  the  policy  of  her 
Government,  the  freedom  of  her  institutions,  and  the 
extent  of  her  territory,  America  has  long  been  the  ha- 
ven to  which  the  European  peasant  directed  his 
hopes,  and  thousands  are  yearly  crowding  to  the 


132  PLACE     OF    NATIVITY. 

X 

shores  of  this  Republic.  If  we  have  to  regret  that,  at 
the  time  of  the  Revolution,  no  note  was  taken  of  the 
classes  of  society  which,  by  that  act,  were  blended 
into  one  ;  and  if  we  have  to  regret,  that  since  those 
stirring  times,  no  attention  has  been  attracted  to  the 
subject,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  another  decimal  enume- 
ration of  the  people  will  not  take  place  without  such 
clear  and  satisfactory  information  being  afforded,  as 
the  nature  of  the  inquiry  will  admit  of. 

It  were  needless  to  refer  to  the  columns  in  the  last 
census  of  the  number  of  aliens  in  the  United  States, 
as  affording  any  criterion  of  the  number  of  foreign 
born  inhabitants,  as  there  is  a  strong  disposition  to 
misrepresent  the  return  on  the  part  of  the  alien,  who 
wishes  to  have  the  right  of  citizenship  secured  to 
himself,  and  the  number  reported  at  the  last  census,  as 
in  the  whole  country,  was  only  one  hundred  thousand, 
while  the  foreigners  who  arrived  here  in  one  year, 
were  76,000,  which  shows  the  greatest  discrepancy. 
Indeed  we  are  strongly  inclined  to  suspect,  although 
the  wording  of  the  interrogation  is  ambiguous,  that 
the  male  inhabitants  who  were  disqualified  from  vo- 
ting by  reason  of  their  alienism,  were  those  only 
who  are  enumerated  under  this  head.  We  have  no 
means  of  satisfying  ourselves  on  this  subject,  but  re- 
fer as  an  indirect  proof  of  the  error  of  the  last  cen- 
sus, to  the  returns  of  the  city  of  New-York.  By  the 
census  of  1830,  the  reported  aliens  were  about  one- 
eleventh  of  the  population,  and  by  the  report  of  inter- 
ments in  that  city  for  1837,  we  find  that  one-fourth 
were  foreign  born  inhabitants.  Now  it  is  impossible 
to  suppose  that  the  greater  mortality  of  the  foreign 
population  will  account  for  this  difference,  and  that 


PLACE    OF    NATIVITY.  133 

the  numbers  who  become  citizens,  swell  up  the  defi- 
ciency, as  few  women  take  the  oaths,  and  children  of 
course,  unless  they  are  introduced  very  young,  must 
be  accounted  aliens  till  they  attain  majority.  From 
these  indirect  proofs,  we  might  be  permitted  to  con- 
sider the  returns  as  very  defective,  to  establish  which, 
we  may  refer  to  some  other  criteria.  The  number  of 
reported  aliens  in  1830,  was  109,832,  and  as  none 
can  become  citizens  till  they  have  resided  five  years, 
of  course  that  number  ought  to  have  included  all  the 
immigrants,  during  the  previous  period  of  five  years. 
In  1836  however,  there  were  about  76,000  foreigners 
landed  on  these  shores,  that  number  multiplied  by  5, 
would  give  380,000,  and  supposing  l-6th  to  have  died 
in  the  course  of  that  period,  would  have  left  316,000 
as  the  number,  who  during  the  period  of  five  years, 
(taking  1836  as  a  criterion,)  had  entered  this  country 
by  the  ports  alone,  whereas  it  is  well  known  that 
thousands  come  by  way  of  Canada,  and  also  that 
many  settle  under  the  protection  of  the  American 
government,  without  becoming  naturalized  citizens. 
We  have  no  very  recent  returns  of  the  number  of 
immigrants  into  Quebec,  but  in  1831,  it  was  51,746,  of 
which  one  half  are  supposed  to  have  entered  into  the 
States. 

In  the  city  of  Newark,  New- Jersey,  with  a  popu- 
lation in  1835,  of  20,000  persons,  the  foreign  born 
inhabitants,  were  to  the  native,  as  1  to  4.G,  which  is 
certainly  a  very  large  proportion,  though  at  the  same 
time,  very  far  above  the  proportion,  usual,  even  in 
manufacturing  towns.  But  enough  has  been  said  to 
show  that  the  number  of  reported  aliens  at  the  taking 
of  the  last  census,  was  far  below  the  actual  number, 


134  PLACE    OF    NATIVITY. 

as  the  small  proportion  of  the  people  which  they 
constituted,  falls  much  below  the  lowest  estimate 
which  can  be  formed  of  their  actual  number,  not 
much  above  l-4th,  and  from  several  indirect  proofs, 
we  would  be  inclined  to  compute  the  number  of  for- 
eigners not  naturalized,  in  this  country,  at  400,000 
persons.  To  show  that  the  subjects  have  already 
been  discussed  without  satisfactory  information,  we 
may  add  that  Dr.  Seybert,  estimates  the  average 
number  of  immigrants  arriving  in  this  country,  be- 
tween the  years  1790  and  1810,  as  about  6000  annu- 
ally, while  Mr.  Booth,  during  the  latter  10  years  of 
that  period,  states  the  number  of  immigrants  to  have 
been  645,389,  or  about  64,000  annually. 

The  following  table  is  compiled  from  the  Treasury 
reports,  and  shows  the  number  of  immigrants  who 
arrived  here  in  1836,  though  there  is  no  general 
table  appended  to  the  report,  and  in  making  out  this 
one,  we  found  some  inaccuracy,  which  we  could  not 
correct,  in  the  returns  from  the  port  of  Philadelphia, 
and  therefore  we  altered  them  to  make  the  result 
correspond  with  the  aggregate  number. 


PLACE    OF    NATIVITY. 


153 


00 


A, 
I 

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to  10  n  i>  5*  O5  m  ft)  ••*  t-  O5  o»  n 

•*  &  •<»<  r-l  0*  OS  0  G^  <J*  50 

sf 


qjnog 


•pUB|;.l8Z}tMg 


aqi  pire  XIBJJ 


•satpui  jsaAV 


PUB  uiBdg 


PUB  ooixd  N 


PUB 


:    S 


t    is 


•aouBJj 


•BDU9UIV  qsijug 


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•S9JBJS  paiiufi 


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CO      .      -i-i 


:  '«- 

.05     \    O 


Pass 
Ports 

New 
Digh 


We  append  as  interesting,   another  calculation  of 
the  proportion  which  the  immigrants  of  different  ages 
under  40,  bear  to  the  whole  number,  by  which  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  infant  females  are  much  more  nu- 


Under 
5. 


5  to  10.  10tol5 


6.07  10.87  497  8.97  5-17  9.199.38 


15  to  20. 


20  to  25. 


13.27  252118.61 


25  to  30. 


13.60 


35  to  40 


30  to  35 

I 

h 

0.159.40  6.436.71 


Upward 
of  40. 


D'bt- 
fuJ. 


136  PLACE    OF    NATIVITY. 

merous  than  the  infant  males,  that  the  adult  males 
in  their  turn  greatly  outnumber  the  adult  female  im- 
migrants. These  isolated  tables  are  of  little  value, 
except  as  showing  the  kind  of  information  which 
may  (be  extracted  from  the  custom-house  reports  re- 
garding immigrants,  and  we  shall  therefore  not  com- 
ment further  upon  them. 

And  further,  it  is  but  fit  and  proper,  that  the  num- 
ber and  influence  of  the  foreign  population  should 
be  known.  We  are  aware  that  in  the  recent  political 
excitement,  the  cry  of  "  native  citizen."  has  been 
heard,  and  made  the  rallying  word  of  a  party  in  the 
States,  and  that  the  newspaper  press  of  that  party 
have  been  loud  in  their  attacks  upon  the  foreigners 
settled  in  the  country.  This  we  may  be  told  is  mere 
party  zeal,  and  written  with  a  view  to  political  effect, 
rather  than  national  feeling,  and  this  we  believe  to 
be  true,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  one  of  the 
most  arbitrary  laws  on  the  statute  book  of  modern 
nations,  was  passed  by  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  by  the  provisions  of  which  bill,  the  President 
might  order  dangerous  or  suspected  aliens  to  depart 
out  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  by  which 
no  overt  act  being  necessary,  but  merely  excitingthe 
suspicions  of  the  President  was  held  to  be  a  sufficient 
crime.  This  may  have  been  proper  and  necessary 
when  proposed,  and  the  propriety  of  it  we  do  not  pre- 
tend to  discuss ;  but  the  same  causes  may  render  it 
equally  expedient  on  a  future  occasion,  and  should 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  not  be  informed 
of  the  number  of  persons  resident  in  this  coun- 
try, on  whose  freedom  and  whose  property  they  are 
called  to  decide  ? 


PLACE   OP   NATIVITY.  137 

Again,  it  were  interesting  and  useful,  to  trace  the 
influence  of  foreign  education  and  habits  upon  the 
community.  In  the  year  1836,  the  foreign  immigrants 
addled  about  l-7th  to  the  natural  increase  of  the  coun- 
try. Now  it  is  evident  that  an  infusion  to  this  ex- 
tent must  exercise  a  powerful  influence  upon  the 
habits,  manners,  religion,  and  prevailing  feelings  of 
the  whole  population,  codum  non  animum  mutant  qui 
trans  mare  currunt.  McCulloch  mentions  the 
ready  reception  of  foreigners,  as  one  of  the  means 
of  promoting  manufactures,  and  it  cannot  be  doubted 
but  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  manufactures 
carried  on  in  the  Middle  States,  are  supported  by 
foreign  labour.  But  it  is  not  merely  in  the  economi- 
cal point  of  view,  that  this  question  is  inviting,  for 
the  political  and  manufacturing  interests  sink  into 
insignificance,  when  contrasted  with  the  moral  influ- 
ence such  a  cause  exerts  on  the  community,  a  cause 
which  it  were  well  accurately  to  mark  and  determine, 
and  it  were  proper,  while  we  encourage  foreign  capi- 
tal and  labour,  to  develope  the  resources  of  the 
country,  that  they  should  be  restrained  from  lower- 
ing the  high  tone  of  morality  and  religion  which 
should  pervade  the  community  at  large.  The 
question  therefore  of  the  influence  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  foreigners,  which  can  only  be  determined  by 
an  accurate  account  of  their  number,  presents  many 
interesting  aspects,  whether  as  regarded  in  a  politi- 
cal, social,  or  economical  point  of  view.  And  it  must 
be  remembered,  that  not  only  the  proportion  which 
the  foreign  population  bears  to  the  native  is  interest- 
ing, but  also  the  differences  in  the  foreign  population 
themselves,  are  of  great  value.  Some  do^  some  do 
18 


138  PLACE    OF    NATIVITY. 

not  speak  the  language,  some  have  been  accustomed 
to  forms   of  government  more  or  less  free,  enjoying 
the  right  of  trial  by  jury,  and  freedom  of  religious  wor- 
ship, while  others  have  been  nurtured  under  despotic 
sway,  without  enjoying,  and  we  may  almost  add,  with- 
out the  power  of  appreciating  the  blessings  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty.     Of  the  21,000  German  immigrants 
who  arrived  here   in   1836,  probably  not    10    could 
speak  the  English  language,  and  when  we  consider 
how  soon  a  foreign  settler  may  become  a  citizen,  it  is 
certainly  well  to  know  the  extent  of  mixture  which 
the  constant  immigration  is  infusing  into  the  Ameri- 
can people.      There  are    4,332   French  immigrants 
reported,  and  though  not  a  large  number  w^hen  con- 
trasted with  the  population  of  the  country,  yet  when 
it  is  remembered  that  they  almost  always  form  an 
increase  to  the  city  population,  their  influence  on  the 
manners,  tastes  and  habits  of  the  inhabitants,  be  it 
for  weal  or  wo,  must  be  considerable.      Again,  the 
number  of  British  subjects  settled  in  this  country  is 
very  great,  and  they  are  necessarily  of  a  class  who 
incorporate  more  readily  with  the  native  population, 
than  any   other  description  of  immigrants.     If  we 
were  correct  in  estimating  the  number  of  foreign  born 
inhabitants,  not  naturalized,  in  the  United  States,  at 
more  than  400,000  persons,  those  of  British  extrac- 
tion, make,  we  believe,   about  half  of  that  number. 
There  are  sometimes  slight  causes  for  the  dissatisfac- 
tion expressed  at  the  great  number  of  British  and 
Irish,  who  crowd  to  these  shores,  but  we"  believe  no 
permanent  feeling  of  that  kind,  pervades  the  com- 
munity at  large,  and  when  we  consider  that  the  works 
of  national  improvement  are  almost  all  aided,  if  not 


PLACE    OF    NATIVITY.  139 

supported  by  British  capital,  and  that  these  hardy 
and  needy  immigrants  perform  the  labour  required  to 
render  that  capital  profitable,  and  that  it  is  to  the 
gigantic  system  of  internal  improvements  that  this 
country  owes  its  rapid  advances;  few  would  "be  will- 
.  ing  to  assert  that  the  foreign  labour  introduced,  is  other 
than  a  great  and  permanent  benefit,  and  the  desire  of 
every  true  friend  of  America  should  be  to  render  this 
influx  of  foreigners  twice  blessed,  by  aiding  them  to 
better  themselves  and  increase  their  comforts,  and 
enabling  the  resources  of  the  country  to  be  better 
unfolded.  But  whatever  may  be  the  prevalent  feel- 
ing of  the  community,  regarding  the  influx  of  for- 
eigners, it  were  certainly  a  just  and  proper  subject  of 
inquiry  for  Government  to  enter  upon,  as  if  there  are 
any  dangers  apprehended  to  the  safety  of  the  body 
politic  from  this  source,  the  public  should  be  apprized 
of  its  actual  condition,  and  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
influx  of  foreign  labour,  is  only  synonymous  with  the 
introduction  of  wealth  into  the  country,  the  politician 
and  the  statesman  should  know  the  influence  of  such 
a  powerful  agent. 

Turning  from  the  foreign  population,  how  interest- 
ing and  valuable  would  it  be  to  know  the  place  of 
nativity  of  the  American  born  inhabitants.  When 
the  condition  and  prospects  of  this  country  are 
considered,  and  the  peculiar  constitution  which 
binds  into  one  whole,  so  many  free  and  separate 
states,  while  upon  this  union  the  increase  of  wealth 
and  the  maintenance  of  the  present  sources  of  pros- 
perity depend,  there  is  no  question  which  we  can  con- 
sider, more  interesting  and  more  conducive  to  the 
true  interests  of  the  public,  than  to  determine  the 


140  PLACE    OF   NATITITY. 

place  of  birth   of  each  inhabitant.     After  the  rude- 
ness of  the  feudal  ages  began  to  give  way  before 
the  influence  of  commerce  and  trade,  and  after  the 
various  legal  or  extortionate  imposts  of  passage,  pont- 
age, lastage,  stallage  and  blackmail,  had  fallen  into 
disuse,  no  general  system  of  passports  was  organized 
in  England,  but  all  were  allowed,  under  some  general 
restrictions,  to  move  to  what  part  of  the  country  they 
might  prefer,  without  requiring  formal  and  express 
permission.      This  has,  save  in  time  of  war,  been 
long  the  case  in  England,  and  the  same  usage  was 
transplanted  into  this  country,  and  the  utmost  freedom 
of  unrestrained  intercourse  has  always  prevailed — 
arising  from  this,  and  the  influence  which  the  union 
of   the  colonial  provinces  into  one  federal  republic 
has  exercised  upon  the  feelings  of  the  people,  a  large 
and    constant   emigration  has   continued  from   the 
Eastern  and  Middle  States  to  the  South  and  West ; 
and  feeling  few  local  predilections,  the  American  cit- 
izen casts  his  eye  over  the  extent  of  the  whole  terri- 
tory, for  the  spot  where  he  shall  settle  his  family,  or 
where  he  shall  cast  his  bread  upon  the  waters.     The 
feeling    of    local  attachment    which    exercises    so 
strong  a  sway  over  some  European  nations,  does  not 
exist  to  the  same  extent  in  this  country,  but  is  merg- 
ed in  a  national  patriotism,   and  the  settler  looks 
rather  to  the  creation  of  fortune,  and  the  formation  of 
fresh  sources  of  pleasure,  in  some  part  of  the  West  or 
South,  than  to  the  perpetuation  of  the  attachments 
and  associations  of  his  earlier  youth.     The  absence 
of  these  attachments,  and  the  absolute  freedom  en- 
joyed by  all,  have  mutually  tended  to  promote  the 
spirit  of  enterprise  and  the  desire  of  change,  and  in 


PLACE    OF    NATIVITY.  141 

many  districts  of  this   country,  the  youth  no  sooner 
reach  manhood  than  "  receiving  their  share  of  the 
inheritance  they  go  into  a  far  country."     This  state 
and  usage  of  society  naturally  suggests  two  subjects 
of  contemplation,  the  one  moral  and  social,  the  other 
political  and  national.     It  is  with  the  latter  alone  that 
we  have  to  do,  and  hope  to  make  it  appear  that  the 
emigrating  habits  of  the  people  by  creating  a  com- 
munity of  interests  tend  materially  to  strengthen  the 
Union.     Previously  to  the   difficulties   between  the 
mother  country   and  the  colonists,  and  even  during 
their  early  commencement,  there  was  a  good  deal  of 
ill-will  and  jealousy  among  the  different  states,  and 
the  general  sympathy  was  only  brought  out  when 
open  resistance  had  been  sometime  made  to  the  Brit- 
ish Government.     New-York  had  disputes  with  Ver- 
mont on  the  north,  and  New- Jersey  on  the  south,  as 
to. the  extent  and  limits  of  her  territory;  Massachu- 
setts and  her  dependency,  were  by  no  means  in  har- 
mony ;  and  Virginia,  with  her  contest  with  the  Indians, 
and  aggressions  of  the  French  on  the  Ohio,  presented 
numerous  distractions  ;  but  no  sooner  had  the  tocsin 
of  war  sounded,  than  these  minor  difficulties  were 
forgotten,  and  the  common  foe  became  the  common 
object  of  reproach  and  opposition.     The  din  of  war 
passed  away,  and  with  it  the  turmoil  of  the  camp, 
and  the  exhausted  country  gradually  and  peacefully 
began  to  cultivate  the  arts  and  appliances  necessary 
to  its  new  state  of  existence.     And  with  the  return 
of  peace,  and  the  ultimate  establishment  of  a  confed- 
erated government,  the  difficulties  which  presented 
themselves  ceased  to  excite  the  same  angry  feelings, 
and  the  liberal  conduct  of  Massachusetts  to  Maine, 


PLACE    OF    NATIVITY. 

of  Connecticut  to  Ohio,  and  of  Virginia  towards 
Kentucky,  seem  to  have  been  the  harbinger  of  a 
better  state  of  things.  The  rivalry  of  the  different 
states  began  to  flow  in  a  better  channel,  and  the  zeal 
with  which  the  interests  of  each  republic  were 
pursued,  formed  the  only  apparent  subject  of  com- 
petition; a  general  intercourse  took  place,  trade 
among  the  different  states  was  by  the  federal  con- 
stitution declared  unrestricted ;  and  the  union  of 
interest  and  the  cultivation  of  social  courtesies, 
have  gradually  levelled  down  all  sectional  difficul- 
ties, and  the  North  and  the  South,  the  East  and  the 
West,  feel  themselves  linked  together  in  one  vast 
brotherhood. 

Since  the  erection  of  the  general  government,  the 
number  of  new  states,  which  may  be  called  the  de- 
scendants of  the  old,  which  have  been  added  to  the 
Union  may  be  reckoned  ten  ;  and  the  peculiar  con- 
nexion which  subsists  between  the  thriving  progeny, 
and  the  no  less  thriving  parents,  is  one  of  especial 
harmony  and  interest.  But  who  can  trace  the  inte- 
rests in  their  detail  which  bind  the^e  states  together? 
and  who  can  estimate  the  influence  which  the  migra- 
tory character  of  the  population  exercises  upon  the 
social  compact?  In  the  west  there  is  the  hope  of 
the  parent  who  lives  on  his  wonted  farm  in  the  east ; 
in  some  southern  city  the  son  transacts  the  business 
consigned  to  him  by  his  father  in  the  north ;  and 
this  constant  union  of  interest  with  the  ties  of  con- 
nexion presents  in  our  mind  a  barrier  which  it  is 
impossible  for  difference  in  opinion  or  party  politics 
ever  completely  to  surmount.  And  it  is  to  tell  the 
extent  of  this  influence,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 


PLACE   OP    NATIVITY.  143 

mark  the  developement  of  character  under  phases 
which  differences  in  local  condition  naturally  create, 
that  we  suggest  this  inquiry.  The  strength  of  the 
political  union  in  this  country  will  be  more  fully  un- 
derstood when  the  moral  throe,  which  a  separation 
would  occasion,  is  estimated  ;  and  this  strength  can 
easily  be  determined  by  ascertaining  the  birth-place 
of  every  inhabitant  in  the  Union,  which  would  be 
a  work  of  some  labour,  but  of  no  great  inherent 
difficulty. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  advantage  and  interest  of 
procuring  returns  of  the  birth-place  of  the  foreigners 
who  are  denizened  in  this  country,  and  of  the  utility 
of  obtaining  information  regarding  the  migrations 
of  the  native-born  inhabitants.  In  turning,  now,  to 
the  other  class  who  are  included  in  our  population, 
we  feel  that  we  enter  upon  ground  which  may  by 
some  be  considered  delicate.  In  desiring  to  know 
the  place  of  birth  of  the  coloured  population,  there  are 
moral  as  well  as  political  ends  in  view.  Whatever 
may  be  the  feelings  which  agitate  the  community 
regarding  the  question  of  slavery,  the  statist  need  take 
no  part  in  the  controversy  :  he  endeavours  on  every 
topic  to  arrive  at  facts:  he  does  not  express  opin- 
ions, but,  having  calmly  recorded  and  dispassionately 
examined  the  data  he  may  have  acquired,  he  hands 
them  to  the  statesman  or  the  political  economist,  to 
be  the  basis  of  future  legislation  or  the  groundwork 
of  future  argument.  Now,  we  wish  to  point  out  two 
very  important  subjects  on  which  an  enumeration  of 
the  place  of  birth  of  the  black  population,  whether 
free  or  slave,  will  throw  considerable  light.  And, 
1st.  It  has  been  asserted  that  the  coloured  popula- 


144  PLACE   OP   NATIVITY. 

tion  in  the  northern  states,  where  slavery  has  been 
abolished,  flocked  to  the  large  towns,  and,  leaving  the 
country  occupations  to  which  many  of  them  were 
accustomed,  have  become  a  burden  to  the  community 
and  a  disgrace  to  the  country.  By  this  return  we 
will  be  able  to  trace  the  extent  to  which  those  born 
in  the  country  have  emigrated  to  the  towns,  and  the 
probable  effect  which  emancipation  at  the  south 
would  exercise  upon  the  coloured  labourers.  And  at 
a  time  like  the  present,  when  the  feelings  of  the  com- 
munity are  aroused,  and  violent  and  unfounded  asser- 
tions are  made  by  either  party,  it  were  well  to  have 
a  calm  and  philosophical  inquiry  carried  on,  which 
might  dispel  some  error,  and  tend  to  calm  the  pre- 
vailing excitement,  and,  by  affording  some  data  for 
argument,  might  operate  with  a  very  beneficial  effect 
upon  the  community  at  large. 

2dly.  By  means  of  the  enumeration  carried  on 
through  the  slave-holding  states,  we  would  learn  the 
amount  and  extent  of  the  domestic  slave  trade  in  this 
country.  Amidst  the  ignorance  which  prevails  on 
this  subject,  the  most  contradictory  assertions  are 
freely  made.  On  this  topic,  the  request  of  the 
statist  is  merely  for  information,  and  in  making  it  he 
feels  that  he  cannot  be  considered  as  trespassing 
upon  private  rights  or  national  safety ;  and  certainly 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  general  government 
should  decline  procuring  information,  relative  either 
to  a  source  of  wealth  or  a  source  of  crime  ;  and  if, 
in  prosecuting  such  inquiries,  the  wakefulness  of  any 
sensitive  portion  of  the  community  is  aroused,  gov- 
ernment owe  it  to  themselves  not  needlessly  to 


PLACE   OP    NATIVITY.  145 

excite  apprehension,  while  they  judiciously  pursue 
the  subject  of  their  inquiries. 

The  returns  which  we  have  proposed  would  there- 
fore afford  us  some  satisfactory  information  on 

1st.  The  immigration  into  this  country,  the  number 
and  general  distribution  of  the  foreigners  who  settle 
here,  their  language  and  general  character. 

2d.  The  principles  which  regulate  the  migration 
to  various  parts  of  the  country  among  the  native  in- 
habitants, the  mixture  of  the  different  classes,  and 
extent  of  intercourse  likely  to  arise  from  the  distri- 
bution of  the  people. 

3d.  The  actual  condition  of  the  coloured  population 
in  the  United  States,  as  evinced  by  their  migration 
or  transportation. 

The  plan  which  we  would  propose  following  in 
regard  to  this  enumeration  would  be  either  to  take 
an  account  of  the  birth-place  of  each  person,  accord- 
ing to  the  state  in  which  it  was  situated ;  or,  if  that 
was  considered  as  too  laborious,  to  divide  the 
Union  into  four  great  sections,  Eastern,  Middle,  West- 
ern and  Southern,  and  classify  them  according  to 
these  sections.  But  we  earnestly  hope  that  this  plan 
will  not  be  followed,  and  we  have  only  suggested  it 
in  order  to  prevent  the  contraction  being  effected 
without  an  opposing  >voice.  The  great  importance  of 
this  return  has  yet  to  be  spoken  of;  and  in  referring,  as 
we  do  below,  to  the  flood  of  light  which  it  would  let 
in  upon  the  subjects  of  "vital  statistics,"  "criminal 
statistics,"  and  some  other  kindred  topics,  we  hope 
to  show  that  its  whole  value  consists  in  its  minute- 
ness. Discarding,  therefore,  the  plan  proposed  of 
dividing  the  Union  into  sections,  we  have  recourse 

19 


146  PLACE   OP    NATIVITY. 

to  the  only  other  mode,  viz.,  of  reporting  the  state  in 
which  each  inhabitant  was  lorn. 

Proceeding  next  with  the  foreign  population,  we 
would  make  some  general  classification  of  the  coun- 
tries from  which  the  immigrants  come,  being  guided  by 
some  affinities  in  the  nations  to  which  they  belong, 
as  it  will  be  necessary  to  condense  the  tables,  and 
not  to  insert  the  inhabitant  of  each  separate  country 
in  a  separate  column.  In  the  subjoined  table  perhaps 
the  classification  may  answer,  and  the  deputy  mar- 
shals might  be  required  to  fill  up  the  columns  accord- 
ing to  the  place  of  birth  of  each  individual,  and  in 
addition  to  the  many  advantages  which  would  other- 
wise flow  from  it,  it  would  afford  a  means  of  check- 
ing the  enumeration  by  the  ages  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  detecting  any  error  in  the  returns.  The  columns 
for  foreigners  might  be  made  in  duplicate,  so  that 
those  who  were  foreign-born  and  not  naturalized 
would  be  distinct  from  those  who  were  foreign-born 
and  citizens  of  the  United  States.  And,  further,  these 
returns  would  show  the  differences  which  exist  in 
the  practice  of  accepting  the  right  of  citizenship, 
which  is  said  to  vary  much  in  different  nations — all 
the  Irish,  and  but  few  of  the  French  immigrants  being 
said  to  do  so.  These  are  questions  of  considerable 
interest ;  but  after  inserting  a  proposed  schedule,  we 
shall  pass  on  to  topics  of  more  real  value, 


PLACE    OP   NATIVITY. 


147 


1 
I 

) 
i 

g 

1 

2 

4 

^ 

2 

i 

! 

tlusetts. 

5 

s 

}  other  Stales  and  tern 

•  Great  Britain. 

h 

I 

British  America. 

E 

a 

c 
1 

> 

K 

s 

C 

by  the  German 

j 
I 

i 

i 

i 

a 

! 

•  Spain  and  Portugal. 

Mexico  and  Texas. 

-West  Indies  and  Cub 

-South  America. 

I 

i 
s 

V 

•» 

a 

oj  2 

II 

1 

1 

5 

(Jonnec 

5 

.£ 

-s 

*t£l_ 

ALIKN. 

tj 

ALIEN. 

NAT. 

*  LIKN. 

H 

ALIEN. 

5 

z 

H 

5   3 

ALIEN. 

si  1 

sJ 

NAT. 
ALIKN. 

N*T. 
ALIEN 

5 

z 

z 

a 

NAT. 
ALIKN. 

This  return,  faithfully  complied  with,  will  enable 
us  to  acquire  accurate  details  regarding  the  following 
subjects,  in  addition  to  the  other  useful  information 
already  referred  to  : 

1st.  It  will  enable  us  to  examine  the  vital  statis- 
tics, and  the  actual  state  of  the  health  and  longevity 
in  this  country,  which  are  utterly  unknown  at  present. 
The  way  in  which  the  returns  have  hitherto  been 
made  out  renders  it  impossible  to  determine  the  rela- 
tive healthfulness  of  any  one  district  of  country,  as 
it  is  impossible  to  estimate  or  ascertain  the  drain 
which  emigration  has  made  upon  any  region,  and 
thus  to  determine  what  the  actual  increase  by  birth 
or  decrease  by  mortality  has  been.  We  are  well 
assured,  for  example,  that  an  old  settled  state,  with 
good  soil,  good  climate,  and  good  water,  where  the 
forests  are  open  to  the  sunbeam,  and  the  marshes 
drained  of  stagnant  water,  is  more  healthful  than  one 
of  those  western  virgin  states,  where  the  soil  teems 
with  fever  as  well  as  with  vegetation,  where  the 
settlers,  in  the  progress  of  acquiring  a  happy  home, 
have  to  submit  to  all  the  privations  of  a  forest  life, 
amidst  the  dews  and  suns  of  the  fruitful  west.  By 


148  PLACE    OF    NATIVITY. 

turning  to  the  population  tables  of  1830,  we  find  the 
increase  of  the  state  of  New  Jersey,  for  the  previous 
ten  years,  to  have  been  only  at  the  rate  of  16,6494 
per  centum ;  while  Ohio,  labouring-  under  all  these 
drawbacks,  increased  at'the  rate  of  61,3086  percent. 
This,  if  taken  as  a  criterion  of  the  health  of  the  coun- 
try, is  notoriously  false,  as  the  actual  increase  of  New 
Jersey  went  to  swell  the  apparent  increase  of  Ohio ; 
but  it  serves  as  an  illustration  to  show  the  nature  of 
information  which  the  present  state  of  the  returns 
affords.  By  knowing  the  place  of  birth  of  each  in- 
habitant, we  will  be  able  to  refer  each  to  his  own 
state,  and  with  great  certainty  contrast  the  different 
sections. 

2d.  It  will  enable  us  to  determine  the  often- 
broached  question,  whether  there  is  more  crime 
among  the  foreign  than  the  native  population,  and,  if 
so,  how  much  greater  is  the  excess  of  crime  among 
the  immigrants,  as  it  is  evidently  impossible  to  deter- 
mine the  question  till  the  number  of  foreigners  in  the 
country  is  known.  And, 

3d.  It  will  enable  us  to  determine  the  proportion 
which  the  native  poor  bear  to  the  foreign. 

These  questions  are  all  of  such  importance  that 
we  shall  devote  a  separate  chapter  to  each,  and  must 
earnestly  hope  that  the  plan  of  having  this  return 
complied  with  may  be  thought  expedient,  as  the 
amount  of  information  it  would  furnish  would  be 
immense. 


149 


VITAL  STATISTICS. 

If  it  is  necessary  that  the  direct  interest  which  the 
General  Government  has  in  every  inquiry  should  be 
apparent,  before  it  can  constitutionally  make  it  the 
subject  of  examination,  we  would  under  this  head, 
refer  to  the  Pension  list  of  the  United  States,  as  inti- 
mately connected  with  vital  statistics.  Between  the 
years  1790  and  1833,  the  expense  of  the  pensions, 
granted  for  services  or  losses  during  the  Revolution- 
ary and  the  late  War,  amounted  to  $24,000,000,  and 
this  sum  has  been  paid  out  without  gaining  any  in- 
formation as  to  the  expectation  of  life  in  this  country. 
The  annual  expense  of  pensions  is  still  considerable, 
and  in  the  event  of  another  war,  would  again  be 
much  increased ;  and  surely  it  were  well  and  fitting 
for  Government  to  have  some  data  on  which  to  de- 
termine the  value  of  compensation  granted.  In  1818, 
every  officer  and  private,  who  had  served  in  the  war 
of  the  Revolution,  and  then  stood  in  need  of  assist- 
ance, was  entitled  to  a  certain  pension  during  the 
remainder  of  his  life ;  did  the  Secretary  of  War 
know  the  value  of  this  grant  ?  did  Congress  estimate 
its  value,  or  were  there  any  means  of  doing  so  ? 

The  question  of  the  expectation  of  life  is  one  of 
great  value  and  interest,  and  one  which,  did  our  time 
and  limits  permit,  we  would  willingly  enter  into  at 
length.  Even  in  England,  the  subject  is  not  by  any 
means  clearly  understood,  and  the  different  tables  in 


150  VITAL    STATISTICS. 

use  will  not  stand  the  test  of  accurate  examination. 
The  calculations  called  the  Northampton  tables  are 
little  to  be  depended  on,  as  they  were  framed  by  Dr. 
Price,  who  entertained  the  opinion  that  the  popu- 
lation  of  England  was  diminishing,    and  in  1780, 
amounted  only  to  four  and  a  half  millions.     "  Go- 
vernments," says  McCulloch,  "which  alone  have  the 
means  of  framing  such  tables  on  an  adequate  scale, 
and  with  the  necessary  precautions,  have  been  sin- 
gularly  inattentive   to   their   duty   in   this   respect. 
And  until  a  very  few  years  since,  when  Mr.  Finlaison 
was  employed  to  calculate  tables  of  the  value  of  an- 
nuities, from  the  ages  of  the  nominees  in  public  ton- 
tines, and  of  individuals  on  whose  lives  Government 
had  granted  annuities,  all  that  had  been  done  in  this 
country,  to  construct  tables  of  mortality,  and  by  con- 
sequence, to  lay  a  foundation  on  which  to  construct 
the  vast  fabric  of  life  insurance,  was  the  work  of  a 
few  private  persons,  who  had  of  course  but  a  limited 
number  of  observations  to  work  upon."     However, 
in  a  late  act  of  parliament,  ample  provision  has  been 
made  for  obtaining  all  the  requisite  information,  upon 
which  to  construct  tables  of  the  value  of  life,  as  the 
number  of  births  and  deaths,  the  age  at  death,  and 
the  disease  are  all  to  be  recorded,  though  that  of 
course  throws  no  light  upon  the  value  of  life   in 
America. 

In  this  country,  it  is  not  known  whether  the  cli- 
mate, with  its  rapid  alternations  of  heat  and  cold,  is, 
on  the  whole,  more  baneful  to  the  human  constitu- 
tion than  the  moister  atmosphere  of  England;  and 
even  the  simpler  question  of  longevity  cannot  be 
settled  by  the  returns  as  made  out  on  former  occa- 


VITAL    STATISTICS. 


151 


sions,  until  the  rate  of  increase  be  previously  deter- 
mined.    Now  we  have  already  shown,  that  the  true 
ratio  of  increase  cannot  be  ascertained,  till  the  num- 
ber of  foreigners  be  known,  as,  in  one  year,   they 
augmented  the  rate  of  increase  by  one-seventh,  and 
therefore  little  can  be  built  upon  any  examination  of 
the  census.     We  can  only   follow  this  interesting 
subject  a  little  way,  and  at  most  hope  to  exhibit  the 
want  of  satisfactory  information,  which  exists  upon 
such  an  extensive  topic ;  but  in  these  few  remarks, 
we  hope  to  correct  some  errors  prevalent  regarding  it. 
Longevity. — In  contrasting  the  length  of  life  in  this 
country,  and  in  England,  we  shall  take  the  Govern- 
ment returns  in  England  for  1821,  the  census  of  the 
United  States  for  the  whole  country,  and  for  New 
Jersey  for   1830,  which  will  afford  accurate  details 
from  which  to  form  a  table,  exhibiting  the  number  of 
persons  at  every  age  from  5  to  100  years,  in  each  of 
these  countries,  reduced  to  proportional  parts  of  1000, 
which  is  supposed  to  be  the  whole  number  living. 


No.  of  persons  at 
each  age  in  1000 

No.  of  persons  ai 
each  age  in  1000 

No.  of  persona  at 
each  age  in  1000 

inhabitants. 

inhabitants. 

inhabitants. 

ENGLAND. 

UNITED  STATES. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Male. 

^emale. 

Male. 

Female. 

Male. 

Female. 

Under  5,   

153.6 

144. 

181.7 

178^ 

164.4 

162. 

5  and  under  10, 

134.7 

126.8 

146. 

145.1 

139. 

138.5 

10    «        "     15, 

117.1 

105.8 

125. 

123.5 

129.5 

122.9 

15    «        "     20, 

98.9 

99.5 

107. 

115.3 

112.4 

113.6 

20             «-     30, 

146.7 

167.5 

178.6 

177.6 

177. 

174.7 

30             "     40, 

115.2 

120.7 

110.6 

107.4 

112.9 

112.5 

40             «     50, 

93.6 

93.1 

68.6 

68.8 

72.4 

75.1 

50             «     60, 

66.4 

65.4 

42.8 

43.2 

46.2 

49.4 

60             "     70, 

44.9 

46.3 

25.2 

25.4 

29. 

32.5 

70             «     80, 

22.3 

23.1 

10.7 

11.2 

13.2 

14.6 

80             "90 

5.7 

6.7 

2.9 

3.3 

3.5 

4. 

90             "  100 

.4 

.6 

.4 

.5 

.3 

.4 

100  and  upwards 

From  this  table,  it  would  seem  that  the  proportion 
of  persons  alive  in  after  life,  is  greater  in  England 
than  in  this  country ;  and  that  while  in  1000  inhabi- 


162  VITAL    STATISTICS. 

tants,  there  would  in  England  be  93  alive,  between 
the  ages  of  40  and  50,  in  the  United  States  at  the* 
same  age,  there  would  only  be  68.  But  we  would  be 
liable  to  considerable  error,  if  we  concluded,  from 
this  table,  that  the  expectation  of  life  in  England 
was  greater  than  here.  When  a  population  is  in- 
creasing rapidly,  innately  (which  word  seems  suita- 
ble to  express  the  increase  from  natural  sources,  ex- 
clusive of  immigration)  it  is  evident,  that  the  propor- 
tion of  adult  to  infant  population  will  be  less  than 
in  one  in  which  the  increase  is  slight,  and  therefore 
if  1000  persons  be  selected  and  apportioned  accord- 
ing to  a  scale  of  their  ages,  a  larger  number  must  be 
placed  under  the  earlier  ages,  and  fewer  will  remain 
to  be  distributed  among  the  more  advanced  years. 
From  this,  it  will  appear,  that  we  have  the  results 
which  might  be  expected  in  the  above  table,  the 
number  under  five  years  of  age  being,  in  England, 
153,  leaving  847  persons  to  be  distributed  among  the 
remaining  ages ;  while  in  this  country,  181  were  un- 
der 5  years  of  age,  leaving  only  819  persons  to  be 
distributed  among  the  remaining  ages,  which  diffe- 
rence will  at  first  sight  appear  to  exhibit  an  increased 
mortality  in  this  country.  If  the  innate  increase  in 
the  two  countries  was  the  same,  of  course  the  result 
would  be  different,  and  the  table  would  exhibit  a 
much  greater  mortality  here  than  in  England,  but 
the  rate  of  increase  here  is  so  much  more  rapid  than 
there,  as  completely  to  account  for  the  discrepancy. 
Again,  the  tables  before  us,  afford  accurate  mate- 
rials for  another  calculation,  viz. :  the  per-centage  of 
loss  which  the  population  in  the  two  countries  sus- 
tains every  ten  years.  In  this  examination,  we  take 


VITAL    STATISTICS. 


153 


the  state  of  New  Jersey,  and  the  returns  from  Scot- 
«lam],  as  the  ratio  of  increase  nearly  corresponds,  being 
in  the  former,  ITJ.per  cent,  in  ten  years,  and  in  the 
latter,  \L6  per  cent.  The  following  calculation  is 
only  made  regarding  the  males,  want  of  time  alone 
prevents  our  completing  it,  as  the  deductions  are 
important,  and  worthy  of  being  followed  out. 


NEW-JERSEY  CENSUS,  1830 

SCOTLAND  CENSUS,  1821. 

S£ 

onfn'each 

Loss  per 
centum  in 
each  suc- 
cessive 10 
years. 

Total  No. 
of  males  a- 
live  at  the 
period  in- 
dicated. 

Lossthere- 
onin  each 
successive 
10  years. 

Loss  per 
centum  in 
each  suc- 
cessive 10 
years. 

Under  1( 

46.2-5 
36.868 
27.001 
17.251 
11.0J3 
7.053 
4.453 
2.021 
.534 
.44 
.1 

9.407 
9.887 
9.770 
6.  188 
3.990 
2.595 
2.437 
1.487 
.490 
.43 

20.33 
27.04 
36.19 
35.92 
36.19 
36.75 
54.66 
73.57 
91.76 
97.73 

263.254 
210.502 
137.645 
107.107 
82  695 
60.014 
42.303 
10.977 
5.377 
.620 
.40 

52.752 
72.857 
30.538 
24.412 
22.671 
17.705 
22.322 
14.600 
4.757 
.580 

20.04 
34.56 
32.18 
22.80 
27.41 
19.52 
52.76 
73.08 
88.45 
93.55 

10  and  under  2G 
20  "  30 
33  "  40 
40  50 
50  60 
60  70 
70  80 
-<0  90 
90  "  100 
100  and  upwards. 

As  the  rate  of  increase  in  these  two  countries  does 
not  vary  much,  the  proportion  of  loss  every  ten  years 
should  not  materially  differ,  and  accordingly,  we  find 
that  until  the  age  of  30  and  after  70,  the  rapidity  of 
decrease  nearly  corresponds,  and  it  becomes  a  ques- 
tion whether  the  greater  decrease  which  occurs  be. 
tween  30  and  70  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  extent 
of  emigration  or  the  difference  of  climate.  Now  as 
this  table  is  formed  by  distributing  the  same  popula- 
tion into  the  different  columns,  and  not  by  considering 
the  successive  ages  to  be  deduced  from  the  preceding 
ones,  there  is  evidently  an  error  in  its  construction; 
but  as  the  ratio  of  increase  in  both  countries  corres- 
pond, our  not  having  made  any  allowance  for  the 
increase  of  population  will  not  materially  affect  the 
comparison  of  the  two.  Assuming  that  the  mortality 
20 


154  VITAL    STATISTICS. 

in  New  Jersey  is  equal  to  that  of  Scotland,  the  num- 
ber of  inhabitants,  which  46,275  children  would « 
infer,  would  be  162,287,  instead  of  152,534,  being 
nearly  10,000  more  than  the  present  male  popula- 
tion, a  number  which  we  are  convinced  is  much  too 
small  an  allowance  for  all  the  Jersey-born  inhabi- 
tants settled  in  other  states. 

From  these  tables,  however,  it  is  evident,  that  the 
population  returns  can  never  be  made  the  basis  of 
any  statistical  inquiries  till  the  ratio  of  innate  in- 
crease be  determined,  and  until  the  place  of  birth  of 
the  inhabitants  be  recorded,  that  cannot  be  done. 
Some  very  interesting  details  might,  however,  be 
obtained  regarding  the  relative  longevity  of  the  two 
races  in  this  country,  although  it  is  said  that  the 
aged  blacks  are  not  often  to  be  trusted  in  the  report 
of  their  advanced  years.  The  comparative  longevity 
of  different  European  nations  is  very  imperfectly 
understood,  and  great  error  arises  from  the  ratio  of 
increase  being  overlooked  in  the  estimate,  for,  in 
Norway,  where  the  population  is  stationary,  the 
number  which  those  upwards  of  70  present,  by  no 
means  proves  that  the  health  of  the  people  corre- 
sponded therewith. 

But  as  these  more  general  inquiries  into  the  con- 
dition of  the  population,  are  impeded  at  every  hand 
by  defective  information,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
more  enlightened  views  of  Government  will,  at 
length  embrace  the  requisite  details,  and  that  the 
census  of  the  population,  besides  a  simple  enumera- 
tion, will  embrace  an  inquiry  into  the  births,  deaths, 
and  marriages  in  the  United  States,  and  other  impor- 
tant subjects.  Till  this  is  done,  it  were  needless 


VITAL     STATISTICS.  155 

to  attempt  to  conjecture  the  present  vital  statistics 
•of  this  country;  and  nothing  can  satisfactorily  be 
done  by  individual  States,  as  the  nature  of  the  in- 
quiry should  embrace  the  whole  Union,  and  be  of  a 
general  not  of  a  local  character. 

As  the  most  convenient  formula  at  hand,  we  shall 
follow  the  arrangement  of  McCulloch,  in  his  ac- 
count of  the  population  of  Great  Britain,  which  will 
show  the  topics  which  are  considered  suitable  for  in- 
vestigation and  inquiry. 

IST.  SECTION.  Races  of  Inhabitants. — We  have 
already  fully  referred  to  this  subject,  which  is  of 
much  more  vital  importance  in  this  country  than  in 
England ;  forming  there  a  part  of  her  past  history 
only,  here  a  powerful  cause  of  present  action.  At 
every  hand,  however,  we  must  again  remark,  that  the 
importance  of  an.  inquiry  into  the  place  of  nativity  of 
the  inhabitants,  will  appear,  and  no  subject  of  in- 
vestigation suggested  inthis  Chapter  can  be  satisfac- 
torily examined  until  such  information  is  obtained. 

2D.  SEC.  Progress  of  Population. — The  period  in 
which  an  extensive  population  can  double  itself,  is 
uncertain.  Malthus  estimates  it,  under  the  most  fa- 
vourable circumstances,  at  15  years ;  the  period  in 
which,  since  1790,  the  population  of  this  country  has 
doubled  itself,  is  about  25  years,  and  is  the  greatest 
increase  on  record  of  the  rapid  augmentation  of  a 
community.  It  were  needless  to  notice  the  various 
discussions  which  this  subject  has  given  rise  to,  as, 
although  ample  materials  are  at  hand  for  exposing 
the  errors  which  have  been  propagated,  no  accurate 
data  exist  to  enable  us  to  substitute  others  more  ca- 
pable of  standing  the  test  of  examination.  The  ques- 


156 


VITAL    STATISTICS. 


tion,  as  discussed,  lies  in  the  narrow  compass  of 
what  is  the  number  of  immigrants — are  they,  or  are 
they  not,  sufficient  to  affect  materially  the  ratio  of  in- 
crease of  the  population?  No  satisfactory  answers 
can  be  given  to  such  queries,  and  therefore,  till  rigid 
examination  determines  the  data,  speculation  on  the 
subject  is  idle.  In  a  former  chapter,  we  have  shown 
that  at  times  the  immigration  is  very  great ;  but  suffi- 
cient information  is  not  obtained  to  know  the  propor- 
tion in  which  it  adds  to  the  increase  of  the  popula- 
tion of  the  country. 

In  the  statistical  tables  presented  to  Congress,  in 
1835,  by  Mr.  Forsyth,  much  labour  has  been  expend- 
ed in  calculating  the  ratio  of  increase  in  each  State 
for  each  decimal  period  of  enumeration.  Whatever 
political  object  such  calculations  may  subserve,  we 
are  unable  to  believe  that  the  least  advantage  to  a 
scientific  examination  of  the  theories  of  the  increase 
of  population  would  follow  them,  as  the  result  only 
shows  the  effects  which  various  causes  have  exerted 
upon  the  individual  States,  without  attempting  to  dis- 
criminate the  different  features  which  distinguish 
these  causes.  As  we  have  already  instanced  the 
cases  of  Ohio  and  New- Jersey,  we  may  again  refer 
to  them  as  examples ;  the  increase  in  the  one,  in 
the  10  years  previous,  being  at  the  rate  of  61  per 
cent.;  while  in  the  other  it  was  only  16.  No  one 
would  conclude  that  the  augmentation  in  the  former 
case  was  all  by  innate  increase  ;  while  in  the  healthy 
character  of  the  climate  and  soil,  no  one  could  ex- 
pect to  trace  the  cause  of  the  very  moderate  addition 
to  the  population  of  the  other.  It  is  vain,  therefore, 
to  attempt  to  make  any  deduction  as  to  the  actual 


VITAL    STATISTICS.  157 

healthfulness  of  the  different  States,  or  to  attempt  to 
procure  a  knowledge  of  the  causes  which,  in  the  va- 
rious sections  of  the  country,  promote  or  retard  the 
progress  of  population. 

It  were  easy  to  speculate  on  the  general  principles 
which  may  be  supposed  to  promote  or  retard  Jhe  in- 
crease of  a  community  ;  but  practical  results  would 
follow  from  a  detailed  examination  alone.  Among 
the  causes  of  increase,  which,  in  this  country,  are 
most  powerfully  efficient,  might  be  mentioned  the 
extent  of  unimproved  yet  productive  territory,  the  fa- 
cility of  intercourse  with  the  more  settled  districts, 
the  advantages  of  a  climate  peculiarly  favourable  to 
certain  agricultural  productions,  and  the  demand  for 
labour  which  such  circumstances  create.  If  we  were 
asked  what  the  causes  are  which  tend  to  limit  the 
population  of  any  section  of  the  country,  "  we  would 
answer  all  those  circumstances  in  our  constitution 
and  fortunes  here  on  earth,  which  check  increase ; 
some  of  them  arising  immediately  from  the  virtues 
and  some  from  the  vices  of  man,  some  resting  on  the 
dictates  of  prudence,  some  on  the  law  of  necessity, 
some  growing  out  of  the  constitution  of  our  frames, 
some  from  the  organization  of  society,  some  resulting 
from  the  great  catastrophes  in  the  physical  world,  and 
some  purely  of  a  moral  quality."* 

The  returns  we  have  already  suggested,  will  ena- 
ble us  to  decide  with  much  accuracy,  on  the  number 
of  the  population  of  each  State,  the  result  of  innate 
increase ;  when  it  will  be  more  easy  to  trace  the 
causes  which  promote  known  results,  than  at  present 

*  North  American  Review,  vol.  viii.,  p.  301. 


158  VITAL    STATISTICS. 

to  speculate  on  the  subject,  when  neither  the  causes 
nor  the  results  are  ascertained. 

One  thing  must  ever  be  remembered  when  speak- 
ing of  the  progress  of  population,  which  is  too  gene- 
rally overlooked,  viz.  that,  the  smaller  the  present 
number  of  inhabitants  in  a  State,  the  greater  will  be 
the  effect  of  immigration  upon  the  ratio  of  increase. 
The  population  of  the  United  States  may  now  be  so 
great,  that  the  annual  augmentation  from  the  shores 
of  Europe  may  very  slightly  alter  the  innate  ratio  of 
augmentation ;  but  this  is  by  no  means  the  case  when 
the  newer  States  in  the  Union  are  referred  to.  The 
State  of  Michigan,  at  the  last  period  of  enumeration, 
contained  only  31,639  persons,  and  probably  that 
number  will  be  found  to  be  increased  200  per  cent 
in  the  interval  of  10  years  preceding  the  next  census. 
Now  it  would  not  require  a  very  large  number  of  im- 
migrants to  eiFect  this,  and  the  same  number  would 
only  alter  the  ratio  of  increase  of  the  State  of  New- 
York  about  3  per  cent.  This  must  never  be  over- 
looked, as  the  ratio  of  increase  alone,  unless  the  pre- 
sent population  is  at  the  same  time  considered,  is 
liable  to  lead  to  very  erroneous  conclusions. 

3D.  SEC.  Densitij  of  the  Population. — The  United 
States  contain  the  most  scattered  population  that 
has  ever  attained  a  high  degree  of  civilization,  and 
the  advantages  and  disadvantages  which  flow  from 
the  sparseness  of  her  settlement,  it  were  easy  to  enu- 
merate were  they  not  sufficiently  obvious.  Darby  es- 
timates the  number  of  inhabitants  in  this  country  to  a 
square  mile,  as  31  66-100ths,  about  one  tenth  of  the 
density  of  the  population  in  England,  and  such  a  dis- 
parity must  necessarily  exercise  a  powerful  influence 


VITAL    STATISTICS.  159 

upon  the  habits  of  the  community.  From  the  census 
as  made  out  last  year,  it  were  easy  to  calculate  the 
density  of  the  population,  although  the  area  of  the 
several  States,  and  more  particularly  of  their  sectional 
divisions,  is  not  accurately  known.  In  connection 
with  this  subject,  and  in  order  to  facilitate  the  labours 
of  the  statist,  it  would  be  well  to  ascertain  the  num- 
ber of  dwelling  houses  in  the  United  States.  Since 
the  year  1798  there  has  been  no  enumeration  of 
them,  and  we  have  no  data  by  which  they  can  be 
estimated.  At  that  period,  exclusive  of  all  those 
under  $100  value,  there  were  276,659  inhabited 
houses,  and,  as  showing  the  habits  of  the  people 
and  the  number  constituting  a  family,  it  would  be  in- 
teresting to  have  an  accurate  return  made  of  all  the 
dwelling  houses  in  the  United  States,  totally  disre- 
garding their  value.  There  could,  of  course,  be  no 
difficulty  in  procuring  a  full  account  of  these,  which, 
as  commonly  the  basis  of  several  interesting  esti- 
mates by  foreign  statists,  would  be  serviceable  here. 
It  would  show  the  average  number  of  which  each 
family  consisted,  which  is,  at  present,  a  matter  of 
conjecture. 

4TH.  SEC.  Population  of  Large  Towns. — This  in- 
formation can  easily  be  procured  without  any  increase 
of  expense  or  additional  trouble,  by  providing  that  no 
city,  town,  or  incorporated  village,  be  reported  in 
connection  with  the  adjacent  country,  being  a  regula- 
tion similar  to  that  which  provided,  in  the  last  cen- 
sus, that  the  boundaries  of  each  county  should  be  re- 
spected. 

5xH.  SEC.  Proportion  of  Males  to  Females. — This 
is  a  subject  which  the  information  obtained  from  the 


160  VITAL    STATISTICS. 

census  of  1830  enables  us  accurately  to  examine,  and 
the  results  it  presents  are  curious,  being  different 
from  the  information  which  a  similar  examination  of 
European  tables  affords.  From  whatever  causes,  the 
greater  fatality  which  attends  males  in  Europe, 
whether  war,  exposure,  or  emigration,  keeps  the  fe- 
males in  excess,  though  it  would  seem  that  the  male 
sex  is  always  slightly  in  excess  at  birth ;  at  least 
such  is  the  result  of  all  inquiries  on  the  subject  which 
have  been  made. 

In   England,  for  100  male  births,  there  are  94.74  females. 

In  France,  100      "          "  "        "  96.  " 

In  New-Spain,*  "       "          "  "  "  98.  " 

In  Prussia,!  "       "          "  "         "  94.37          " 

In  Philadelphia,!  "       "          "  "        "  93.35          « 

Such,  for  some  mysterious  purposes,  being  the  law 
of  our  nature,  it  is  interesting  to  find  that  in  this 
country  the  ratio  is  maintained  through  life,  whereas 
in  Europe  the  greater  risk  and  casualty  to  which  the 
males  are  exposed,  have  always  more  than  counter- 
balanced the  effect  wrhich  such  a  difference  would 
have.  On  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  however,  such, 
by  no  means,  seems  to  be  the  case  ;  and  the  addition- 
al number  of  males  at  birth  is  maintained  throughout 
life,  as  exhibited  below : 

In  [England,   for    each   100   males,  there]  are  103.1  females. 

In  France,         "       «        «       'b«  «          «  103.         « 

In  New  Spain,  "       «        "       "  "         "  95.         « 

In  the  United  States,  in  1830,  «  "         "  97.12     « 

Such  are  interesting  facts,  and  would  require  very 
careful  examination  before  the  causes  which  produce 
them  can  be  accurately  determined ;  but  the  folio w- 

*  Humbolt's  New-Spain.        f  American  Almanac.        J  Bills  of  Mortality. 


VITAL    STATISTICS. 


161 


ing  very  curious  table,  which  we  have  framed, 
throws  some  light  upon  the  subject,  as  it  would  seem 
that  all  the  States,  from  which  emigration  proceeded 
to  a  great  extent,  had  a  majority  of  females,  while 
those  to  which  the  immigration  flowed  had  always  a 
majority  of  males. 


STATES. 


Maine, 33.9420 

New  Hampshire, 10.4775 

Massachusetts 16.8352 

Connecticut 8.4002 

Rhode  Island, 17.8913 

Vermont, 19.1296 

Ntw-York, 40.5869 

New- Jersey, 16.6494 

Pennsylvania, 28.7885 

Delaware, 4.1949 

Maryland, 11.8691 

Virginia, 15.1268 

North  Carolina, 12.7965 

South  Carolina, 8.6013 

Georgia, .  56.5713 

Kentucky, 19.1290 

Tennessee 57.6062 

Ohio, 61.0083 

Indiana, 132.8510 

Mississippi, 67.0215 

Illinois, 188.2818 

Louisiana, 21.8825 

Missouri, 105.0350 

Alabama, 97.8347 

Michigan, 264.8702 

Arkansas, 104.0782 


Ratio  of  in 
crease  in  tei 
years— from 
1820  to  1830. 


Proporti 
which  males 
bore  to  femal 
were  as  iOO  u 
the   No.   indi 
cated  below 


98.04 
104.84 
104.74 
102.45 
106.52 
9984 
96.24 
90.30 
96.74 
99.65 
97.50 
99.43 
100.50 
97.39 
93-63 
93.83 
94.71 
90.14 
92.96 
83.10 
88.98 
79.08 
86.78 
88.80 
72.54 
80.08 


Now  if  such  results  follow  emigration  in  this  coun- 
try, perhaps  the  same  causes  may  be  operating  in 
Europe,  and  the  causes  which  may  tend,  in  some  de- 
gree, to  lower  the  proportion  of  males  there,  may  in- 
crease it  here,  viz.  the  larger  number  of  males  who 
emigrate.  It  is  satisfactory  to  think,  that  the  chance 
of  male  life  in  this  country  is  so  much  increased, 
21 


162  VITAL    STATISTICS, 

and  whether  it  does  not  argue  greater  tranquillity  and 
morality,  is  a  question  well  open  to  discussion. 

GTH.  SEC.  Proportion  of  Births,  Deaths,  and  Mar- 
riages.— On  this  section  we  must  express  our  views 
more  fully  than  we  have  hitherto  done,  as  the  subjects 
alluded  to  are  of  very  great  importance,  and  regard- 
ing which  nothing  is  known.  In  some  of  the  cities, 
on  the  seaboard,  registers  are  kept  of  the  number  of 
the  births  and  marriages,  and  the  number  of  inter- 
ments are  reported  for  the  purpose  of  completing  the 
bills  of  mortality ;  and  in  the  census  of  the  State  of 
New- York,  for  1835,  the  number  of  each  of  these  is 
given,  and  the  same  practice  may  locally  obtain  else- 
where ;  but  speaking  of  the  country  at  large,  we  are 
warranted  in  saying,  that  no  information,  capable  of 
affording  any  light  to  the  statistical  student,  exists; 
and  it  is  to  supply  this  desideratum,  that  we  now 
purpose  to  suggest  a  ^considerable  addition  to  the 
number  of  those  tables  to  be  used  in  reporting  the 
enumeration  of  the  people  in  1840.  The  information 
on  the  subject,  which  Mr.  McCulloch  treats  of  under 
this  head,  it  is  impossible  to  procure  in  this  country, 
and  even  in  England,  although  they  have  long  had 
bills  of  mortality,  and  registers  of  the  births  and  mar- 
riages, they  are  said  to  be  so  ill  kept  that  no  useful 
information  can  be  gleaned  from  them.  It  is  not 
practicable  for  this  Government  to  attempt  to  imitate 
the  example  of  the  less  extended  European  powers, 
and  to  establish  permanent  records  of  these  occur- 
rences in  the  several  States ;  but  at  the  time  of 
taking  the  census,  it  were  easy  to  acquire  some  in- 
formation regarding  the  number  of  each  of  these 
events  which  have  taken  place  within  the  previous 


VITAL    STATISTICS.  163 

year.  It  is  true,  that  it  would  be  more  satisfactory 
to  procure  a  detail  of  all  the  births,  deaths,  and  mar- 
riages which  annually  occur ;  but  in  the  absence  of 
such  particular  and  continuous  returns,  it  would  be 
convenient  and  serviceable  to  procure  them  of  the 
decimal  years  only.  Now  nothing  could  be  more 
easy  than  for  the  assistant  to  inquire  at  each  house, 
whether  any  of  these  events  had  occurred  within  the 
year  previous  to  his  visit.  If  the  following  schedule 
were  added  to  that  used  in  taking  the  enumeration, 
arid  the  assistant  allowed  as  much  for  each  entry  in 
these  columns  as  he  may  be  for  each  inhabitant  en- 
rolled, no  difficulty,  we  apprehend,  would  be  expe- 
rienced in  procuring  the  most  satisfactory  returns  for 
the  year  1840.  Births. — The  facility  of  obtaining 
returns  of  the  number  of  infants  born,  distinguished 
according  to  their  sex  and  colour,would  be  great,  and 
those  who  were  still-born  might  be  distinguished  from 
those  born  alive.  In  Prussia,  rather  more  than  three 
per  cent,  are  found  to  be  still-born,  arid  in  this  coun- 
try we  understand  the  question  is  curious  as  regards 
the  different  races,  a  much  smaller  proportion  of  the 
coloured  infants  being  born  dead.  By  the  detailed 
accounts  of  the  births  taken  in  connection  with  the 
return  of  the  deaths,  there  are  some  general  deduc- 
tions to  be  obtained,  relating  to  the  ratio  of  increase 
and  other  similar  topics. 

The  number  of  Deaths  which  take  place,  is  like- 
wise enveloped  in  the  greatest  obscurity. 

In  the  State  of  New- York,  the  census  of  1835, 
returns  1,102,658  males,  and  1,071,859  female  inhab- 
itants, and  17,486  deaths  among  the  former,  and 
15,280  among  the  latter.  More  properly  however, 


164  VITAL    STATISTICS. 

the  number  of  deaths  ought  to  be  added  to  the  num- 
ber of  persons  returned,  to  obtain  a  correct  estimate 
of  the  proportion  of  deaths  which  occur,  which  would 
make  1  death  in  64  males,  and  1  death  in  71  females 
for  the  year.  In  the  city  of  New- York,  also,  we 
have  some  satisfactory  returns,  by  which  we  find  the 
number  of  inhabitants  to  be  270,089,  and  the  deaths 
6,608,  or  one  in  40.  In  contrasting  these  returns  with 
the  English  bills  of  mortality,  we  find  the  advantage 
to  be  greatly  on  the  side  of  this  country.  The  aver- 
age mortality  in  England  for  the  five  years  preceding 
1830,  was  1  in  51 ;  and  the  extremes  vary  from  1  in  64 
in  Cornwall  to  1  in  41  in  Middlesex  ;  and  in  the  city 
of  Glasgow,  1  in  39.04  of  the  population  were 
buried.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  mean  mortality  in 
the  state  of  New- York,  is  1  in  67  1-2,  in  England,  1 
in  51,  and  in  the  city  of  NewYork,  1  in  42,  in  the 
city  of  Glasgow,  1  in  39.04,  which  contrary  to  ex- 
pectation, evinces  a  much  greater  degree  of  health 
in  this  country  than  in  England.  Whether  however, 
this  high  standard  would  be  maintained  if  the  exami- 
nation extended  over  the  whole  country,  or  even  the 
whole  of  the  farming  States  of  the  Union,  premises 
do  not  warrant  us  to  conclude  ;  but  the  rapid  increase 
of  the  population,  may  lead  us  to  hope  such  is  the 
case. 

But  apart  from  examinations  of  the  mortality  of 
this  country,  as  compared  with  Europe,  what  is  the 
comparative  mortality  of  different  districts  of  the  coun- 
try? Is  the  climate  of  the  New-England  States  more 
healthy  than  that  of  the  Middle  States,  or  are  they 
in  their  turn  more  healthful  than  the  Western.  Is 
the  Alleghany  ridge  a  barrier  which  prevents  the 


VITAL    STATISTICS.  165 

diseases  incident  to  a  maritime  country  from  pene- 
trating into  the  interior,  or  are  diseases  indigenous 
to  the  inland  states  more  fatal  than  those  prevalent 
on  the  coast?  Such  are  the  questions  fraught  with 
interest,  which  we  would  desire  to  ask,  and  we  hope 
that  means  may  be  taken  to  ascertain  the  number  of 
deaths  which  have  occurred  at  every  period  of  life, 
into  which  the  people  are  divided,  for  the  purpose  of 
enumeration. 

In  several  of  the  large  cities,  bills  of  mortality  are 
taken  which  are  interesting  in  a  very  high  degree, 
and  some  of  them  are  peculiarly  valuable  from 
the  creditable  manner  in  which  they  are  kept, 
particularly  the  statistical  tables  of  Dr.  Dunnel,  of 
the  city  of  New- York,  for  1838,  as  also  the  Philadel- 
phia reports.  These  however,  are  not  of  any  value  as 
exhibiting  the  mortality  in  any  of  the  rural  districts,  for 
the  various  elements  that  affect  a  city  population,  are 
not  felt  throughout  the  country  at  large.  This  par- 
ticularly applies  to  the  mortality  among  infants,  and 
so  peculiarly  fatal  to  them,  is  the  climate  in  the 
Atlantic  cities,  that  one  half  the  deaths  which  occur- 
red in  New- York,  in  1836,  were  of  infants  under  one 
year  old,  (49.06  per  cent.) 

Connected  with  this  subject,  it  only  remains  for  us 
to  suggest  the  manner  in  which  the  returns  of  the 
deaths  which  may  occur  in  the  course  of  the  year 
1840  should  be  reported.  It  were  of  great  value  to 
the  subject  of  life  assurance,  to  have  the  ages  of  all 
persons  who  may  die,  reported,  as  it  would  enable  the 
insurer  to  make  very  accurate  estimates,  not  only  of 
the  value  of  each  period  of  life,  but  of  its  value  in 
each  different  section.  Now  this,  we  think,  may  be 


166 


VITAL    STATISTICS. 


very  easily  arranged  ;  let  the  assistant  note  down  the 
age  of  every  deceased  person  in  the  column  which 
embraces  his  age,  and  on  the  same  table  as  he  takes 
the  enumeration  of  the  living,  and  either  use  a  differ- 
ent coloured  ink  to  make  the  entry,  or  surround  the 
number  with  a  mark,  [100].  This  would  save  the 
unnecessary  transmission  of  documents,  and  would 
not  embarrass  the  assistant,  while  it  would  add  to  the 
statistical  knowledge  of  the  country  to  an  inconceiva- 
ble extent.  It  is  from  the  apprehension  that  sep- 
arate tables  extended  to  their  requisite  length,  would 
be  objected  to,  that  we  now  suggest  this  expedient, 
and  we  hope  that  no  practical  objection  will 
arise  to  frustrate  the  undertaking.  The  returns  so 
made  out,  would  fully  elucidate  the  whole  subject  in 
a  manner  which  has  never  been  attempted  in  any 
part  of  Europe,  and  besides  throwing  greater  light 
on  the  principles  of  vitality  generally,  it  would  par- 
ticularly exhibit  the  value  of  life,  and  periods  of  pe- 
culiar mortality  among  us. 

Marriages.  A  simple  enumeration  of  these,  is  all 
that  is  required,  as  from  it  the  average  number  of 
children  to  a  family,  could  easily  be  adduced.  It  will 
of  course  be  necessary  to  prevent  their  being  enu- 
merated twice,  and  the  following  heading  from 
the  census  of  the  State  of  New-York,  may  an- 
swer the  desired  end,  viz :  "  The  number  of  marriages 
occurring  in  the  same  family  where  the  female  mar- 
ried resided  during  the  preceding  year."*  The 
wording  of  this  might  perhaps  be  simplified  a  little, 
but  the  principle  of  taking  the  number  of  females 
married  in  the  course  of  the  year,  would  obviate 

*  Revised  Statutes,  New- York,  Tit.  6,  Chap.  III. 


VITAL    STATISTICS.  167 

the  difficulty  to  be  apprehended  from  a  double  enu- 
meration. 

7th  and  8th  SECTIONS.  The  probable  duration  of 
life,  and  the  proportion  of  ages  to  the  population — 
of  the  former  of  these,  we  have  already  spoken  in 
this  chapter,  under  the  head  of  longevity,  and  of  the 
latter  in  an  early  part  of  this  essay,  when  referring 
to  the  population  returns. 

Such  are  the  several  sections  into  which  Mr. 
McCulloch  divides  his  chapter  on  population,  and  par- 
ticular information  will  be  obtained  relative  to  each 
division,  if  the  returns  we  have  already  suggested, 
be  complied  with.  And  in  addition  to  these  subjects, 
there  are  several  other  topics  connected  with  vital 
statistics,  which  will  be  much  benefited  by  these  inqui- 
ries ;  such  as  Medical  Topography  or  the  diseases 
incident  and  peculiar  to  each  section,  which  has 
already  received  considerable  attention  in  this  coun- 
try, and  been  ably  treated  of  by  Drs.  Rush,  Currie, 
and  Marshall.  But  the  limited  sphere  of  one  indi- 
vidual's observation,  necessarily  precludes  the  possi- 
bility of  a  comprehensive  and  enlarged  survey  of  the 
whole  country,  and  such  general  data  would  then  be 
afforded  as  would  enable  the  statist  to  make  the  ne- 
cessary enumeration  of  the  causes  which  affect  the 
duration  of  human  life.  There  is  another  subject 
upon  which  it  may  throw  some,  although  not  much 
light,  namely,  the  prevalence  of  sickness  in  this  coun- 
try ;  as  medical  men  from  the  estimated  mortality  of 
certain  diseases,  may  be  able  for  each  death  which 
may  occur  from  them,  to  say  how  many  probably 
have  been  incapacitated  from  labour  by  the  same 
complaints.  The  number  of  sick  in  England,  con- 


168  VITAL    STATISTICS. 

stantly  disabled  from  work,  has  been  estimated  at 
600,000,  which,  supposing  the  same  ratio  to  prevail 
in  this  country,  would  make  the  number  of  sick 
about  770,000 ;  but  we  do  not  believe  that  much  if 
any  direct  information  can  be  procured  on  this  subject. 
The  returns  we  have  now  urged,  differ  in  their  charac- 
ter from  those  which  we  shall  next  suggest.  Those 
are  to  be  obtained  from  official  men,  while  the  pres- 
ent information  is  to  be  sought  in  the  midst  of  the 
population,  and  by  those  engaged  in  taking  the  cen- 
sus of  the  living.  To  one  more  conversant  with  the 
science  of  vital  statistics,  many  suggestions  may  oc- 
cur of  topics  which  we  have  omitted,  but  it  is  hoped 
that  the  more  prominent  subjects  of  inquiry,  are  here 
enumerated,  together  with  the  most  advisable  means 
of  procuring  the  requisite  information. 


m  /LIBK.N 


THERE  is  no  subject  connected  with  the  Population 
and  condition  of  this  country,  that  has  excited  so 
much  interest  at  home,  or  so  much  attention  abroad, 
as  the  manner  of  punishing  criminals,  adopted  in  its 
various  penitentiary  systems,  and  the  influence 
which  the  different  modes  of  punishment  exert  upon 
society  at  large ;  and  momentous  though  this  ques- 
tion be,  there  is  a  lamentable  want  of  accurate  in- 
formation regarding  it,  and  notwithstanding  the  efforts 
of  the  Boston  Prison  Discipline  Society,  the  most 
particular  accounts  are  to  be  obtained  from  Reports 
made  to  the  British  and  French  Governments,  by 
commissioners  sent  to  this  country  for  that  purpose. 
The  moral  principle  which  requires  that  the  im- 
provement of  the  character  of  the  convict  should  be 
one  of  the  ends  attained  by  his  punishment,  is  one  of 
the  features  which  characterize  the  age  ;  and  in  con- 
sequence, example  is  no  longer  considered  the  only 
object  of  attention,  when  the  effects  of  prison  disci- 
pline are  discussed.  But  the  beneficial  effect  of  the 
efforts  made  by  the  different  states  to  improve  the 
physical  and  moral  condition  of  the  convict,  can 
never  be  fully  exemplified  until  the  General  Govern' 
ment,  by  collecting  all  the  requisite  information,  can 
show  the  results  of  the  philanthropic  exertions  that 
have  been  made.  That  the  examination  of  the  sub- 
ject is  a  proper  field  for  this  Government  to  enter 
upon,  cannot  be  doubted  by  any  one  who  considers 
22 


170  CRIME. 

the  reports  that  have  been  so  industriously  circulated, 
founded  upon  some  French  statistics,  showing  that 
education  and  crime  advanced  together ;  and  in  a 
government  which  depends  for  its  continuance  upon 
the  morality  and  intelligence  of  the  people,  it  surely 
is  but  fit  and  proper  to  estimate  the  improvement  of 
the  population.  From  various  circumstances,  no 
proper  returns  can  be  procured,  unless  the  General 
Government,  by  employing  its  officers  in  the  different 
states,  requires  sufficient  data  to  be  furnished  to 
enable  a  correct  comparison  to  be  made. 

There  are  several  deficiencies,  which  have  hitherto 
prevented  an  accurate  account  of  the  state  of  crime, 
its  increase,  and  causes,  in  this  country,  from  being 
made  out,  and  these  omissions  Government  could 
easily  supply  in  the  census  next  to  be  taken.  The 
following  information  were  much  to  be  desired,  could 
it  be  obtained. 

I.  Complete  returns  from  several  of  the  states, 
of  the   numbers  committed   to    the   State   Prisons, 
classed  according  to  their  places  of  nativity,  crimes, 
sentence,  education,  and  health. 

II.  Keturns  .of  the  state  of  the  different  county  and 
city  prisons,  throughout  the  Union,  with  the  numbers 
committed  to  them,  and  all  the  desiderata  referred  to 
in  the  above  returns  from  the  State  prisons. 

III.  The  differences  in  the  penal  codes  of  the  va- 
rious states,  which,  until  known,  effectually  prevent 
all  comparisons. 

IV.  Some  information  as  to  the  migrations  of  the 
inhabitants  of  this  country,  or  of  the  influx  of  fo- 
reigners, which  information  we  have  already  pro- 
posed, should  be  supplied. 


CRIME,  171 

I.  Under  this  head,  all  the  information  of  which 
we  are  at  present  in  possession  is  comprised,  but 
generally  in  so  very  vague  and  unsatisfactory  a  man- 
ner, that  no  conclusions  can  be  drawn  from  it.  The 
mere  number  committed,  in  the  course  of  a  year,  to 
the  state  prison,  is  easily  obtained,  but  does  not  of 
itself  furnish  the  statist  with  much  information; 
though  it  is  said  that  at  least  4,000  persons  are  an- 
nually sentenced;  and  at  least  10,000  are  constantly 
excluded  from  all  their  civil  rights.  The  following 
are  the  proportions  of  criminals  in  some  of  the  states, 
according  to  Messrs.  Beaumont  and  De  Toqueville. 

From  1827  to  1831,  there  have  been  sentenced: 

1  native  of  Massachusetts  of  14,524  inhabitants. 
1       «•       "   Pennsylvania  "    11,821  " 

1      *?.-,?  New  York  State  «     8,610  " 

1      "       «   Connecticut  «      8,269  " 

1      "       "   Maryland  "      3,954  « 

In  reference  to  this  comparative  statement,  Mr. 
Crawfurd  justly  observes,  "  neither  can  a  judgment 
be  correctly  formed,  from  these  accounts,  of  the  re- 
lative proportion  of  crime  in  the  different  states.  It 
is  well  known,  that  the  population  of  New  England 
ranks  far  superior  to  any  other  part  of  the  Union,  in 
morals  and  intelligence ;  education  is  universal,  the 
laws  are  ably  administered,  the  police  is  well-regu- 
lated, and  pauperism  is  limited,  and  yet  the  returns 
tend  to  show,  that  there  is  more  crime  in  proportion 
to  the  population  in  the  most  enlightened  of  these 
states,  than  in  Pennsylvania,  or  the  more  western 
states.  The  false  impression  which  these  returns 
are  calculated  to  convey,  is  in  a  great  measure  to  be 
ascribed  to  the  fact,  that  few  crimes  escape  detection, 


172 


CRIME. 


whereas,  this  is  by  no  means  the  case  in  other  parts 
of  the  Union." 

As  to  the  place  of  nativity  of  the  convicts.     It  is 
very  desirable  to  ascertain  the  increase  of  crime,  the 
operation  of  the  policy  pursued  by  the  state,  and  the 
changes  which  the  morals  of  the  people  are  under- 
going ;  and  to  obtain  data  for  such  investigations,  it 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  have  the  place  of  birth 
of  every  criminal  in  the   United  States,  recorded. 
We  have,  it  is  true,  partial  statements  from  some  of 
the  more  recently  established  penitentiaries,  embrac- 
ing this  information,  but  these  returns  are  only  to  be 
found  from  a  few  of  the  states,  and  so  defective  in 
arrangement,   as  to  be  of  little  value.     In  a  moral 
point  of  view,  it  is  interesting  to  observe  the  deve- 
lopement  of  national  character,  when  removed  from 
the  control  of  its  native  institutions,  and  to  learn  the 
number  of  convicts  from  the  Northern  states,  who 
are  confined  in  the  South;  and  the  number  of  foreign 
born  inhabitants  who  are  to  be  found  in  the  various 
prisons ;  and,  in  at  political  point  of  view,  it  is  of  im- 
portance to  know  the  influence  which  foreigners  ex- 
ercise upon  the  crime  of  the  country,  and  to  have 
sure  data  for  legislating  on  the  subject.     In  the  re- 
port made  on  the  subject  of  American  Penitentiaries, 
to  the  French  Government,  by  Messrs.  Beaumont  and 
De  Toqueville,  a  work  in  which  we  are  constrained 
to  say,  vague  estimates  arid  hasty  conclusions  too  fre- 
quently abound,  though  in  many  instances  corrected 
and  pointed  out  by  the  translator,  Dr.  Lieber,  we 
find  several  statements  as  to  the  proportion  of  native 
to  foreign  crime  in  some  of  the  states. 


CRIME.  173 

From  1800  to  1805,  there  were  in  the  State  prison  of 

New  York,      1  foreigner  to  2,43  prisoners. 
«      1825  to  1830,          «  1  «          4,77 

"     1786  to  1796,  Philadelphia,    1  "          2,08  « 

«      1829  to  1830,  «  1  "          5,79  « 

"      1827  to  1831,  Connecticut,    1  "        13,27  « 

"     1827  to  1831,  Maryland,        1  "        12,65  « 

"      1829  to  1830, Massachusetts,!  "          6,  « 

Such  a  table  as  this,  at  first  sight,  appears  to  pre- 
sent a  very  remarkable  fact,  viz.,  that  the  per-centage 
of  foreigners  convicted  has  decreased  of  late  years, 
while  the  proportion  of  native  criminals  has  very 
materially  increased — but  such  is  by  no  means  a  legi- 
timate conclusion  from  the  table  above,  as  it  must  be 
evident,  that  the  ratio  of  increase  of  the  native  over 
the  foreign  population  enters  as  an  element  into  every 
deduction  from  the  table,  as  every  year  the  number 
of  foreigners  forms  a  smaller  proportion  of  the  entire 
community;  and  unless  the  comparative  increase  of 
the  native  and  foreign  population  were  known,  no 
accurate  deduction  could  be  made  of  the  increase  of 
crime,  but  if  that  is  ascertained,  and  full  tables  pro- 
cured of  the  place  of  birth  of  every  criminal  in  con- 
finement, at  the  time  the  census  is  taken,  much 
valuable  information  would  be  the  result.  To  show 
that  such  returns  could  easily  be  procured,  we  give 
one  which  we  extract  from  the  Trenton  Prison  Re- 
ports of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  for  a  number  of 
years  past,  although  we  do  not  think  it  advisable, 
that  the  tables  to  be  procured  by  government  should 
have  any  retrospective  character,  but  be  simply  a 
statement  of  the  places  of  nativity  of  the  persons 
then  in  confinement. 


174 


CRIME. 


State  Prison,  New- Jersey. 


1829 

1830 

1831 

1832 

1833 

1834 

1835 

1836 

1837 

African,  J«X 

•"*»>  ISSi;- 

English  

47 

*32* 
4 
3 

• 

67 
3 
31 
6 
3 

74 
3 
32 
4 
5 

*  " 

60 
3 
35 
2 
4 

57 
4 
32 
2 

g 

53 

'36* 
5 
10 

64 
1 
45 
4 
13 

•JO 

g 

1 

2 
1 

1 
1 

.... 

1 

I 

West  Indian  

1 

I 

0 

2 

1 

90 

1-23 

128 

114 

117 

113 

141 

The  above  table  exhibits  what  amount  of  informa- 
tion can  be  obtained  on  this  subject. 

The  age  of  different  convicts  would,  as  connected 
with  their  crimes,  be  an  interesting  subject  belonging 
to  the  department  of  preventive  police,  and  might 
furnish  to  the  philanthropist  many  facts  of  great 
value.  Mr.  H.  Bulwer  remarks,  "  as  is  natural  to  sup- 
pose, the  greatest  number  of  crimes  committed  by 
both  sexes  are  committed  between  25  and  30  years 
of  age,  a  time  when  the  faculties  are  most  developed, 
and  the  passions  are  strongest.  Assassinations  be- 
come more  and  more  frequent  after  the  age  of  twenty, 
up  to  the  age  of  fifty,  forgery  takes  the  same  rule 
of  progression,  but  continues  increasing  up  to  the 
age  of  seventy  and  above"* — and  the  table  framed 
by  M.  Guerry,  of  the  crimes  which  predominate  at 
different  ages  is  extremely  curious.  But  we  are  not 
aware  of  any  practical  results  which  will  follow 
from  such  inquiries,  although,  if  the  information  can 
easily  be  procured,  it  might  be  advisable  to  have  it 
preserved.  Messrs.  Beaumont  and  De  Toqueville 


France,  Social,  Literary,  and  Political—i.  142. 


CRIME. 


175 


had  sufficient  data  exhibited  to  them  to  form  the  fol- 
lowing* table,  so  if  desirable,  the  same  kind  of  data 
might  be  procured  from  all  the  states. 


STATES. 

Yeais  to 
which  re- 
turns refer. 

Prisoners 
under  20. 

Prisoners 
20  to  30. 

Prisoners 
30  to  40. 

Prisoners 
40  to  50. 

Prisoners 
50  to  60. 

Massachusetts,  .  . 
New  York,  
Pennsylvania,  .  .  . 
Connecticut,  

Mean  Term,.  . 

1826—31, 
18-26—32, 
18:<0, 
1827—32, 

lof  12 
"  "  11 
"  «  10 
«  "    8 

lof  2 

"  "  2 
i<  it  2 
"  u  2 

lof  4 
mi  4 
it  u  4 

in.  7 

lof  9 
""11 

ii  u   9 

««   9 

lof  24 
i.  i.  24 

«  u  24 
u  ii  29 

lof  10 

lof  2 

lof  5 

I  of  9 

lof  25 

And  as  further  illustrating  the  information  which 
may  be  procured,  we  copy  from  the  able  report  of  the 
Trenton  Penitentiary,  New- Jersey,  the  ages  of  the 
prisoners  in  confinement,  on  the  1st  October,  1837. 


PRISONERS. 

1 

s*\a* 

i'SI 

£«£« 

_JJl 

91  1     1 

Colouied  1 
Mains. 

Coloured 
Females,  j 

Under 
10. 

Betw'n 
10  &  20. 

20&30 

W&40 

40&50 

50&60 

Upwa.d 
of  60 

1 

22 

64 

35 

9 

9 

1 

141 

45 

4 

These  examinations  might  be  useful  in  exhibiting 
the  earlier  developements  of  crime  in  the  city  than 
in  the  country  population,  and  in  detecting  the  mo- 
tives which  at  different  periods  of  human  life,  seem 
to  have  the  predominance.  It  would  not  be  difficult 
to  frame  a  table  which  might  be  advantageously  used 
in  such  an  investigation,  and  we  shall  give  the  one 
employed  by  M.  Guerry,  when  drawing  out  his  in- 
teresting scale  of  the  connection  of  crime  with  age. 

Of  the  Crimes  with  which  the  prisoners  in  the 
various  state  prisons  are  charged,  much  might  be 
learned,  and  a  great  deal  of  useful  insight  given 
into  the  structure  of  society  among  us.  In  the  primi- 
tive ages  of  man's  civilized  condition,  when  ignorance 


176  CRIME. 

and  prejudice  hoodwinked  the  mass  of  the  commu- 
nity, before  enlightened  views  were  taken  either  of 
trade  or  national  relations,  the  sense  of  morality 
which  regulated  mankind  was  of  so  low  a  standard, 
as  to  reduce  the  number  of  criminal  actions.  As  so- 
ciety advances  in  civilization,  and  becomes  more 
accustomed  to  the  rights  of  property,  and  to  the  in- 
crease of  merchantable  commodities,  the  opportuni- 
ties and  inducements  to  crime  increase,  as  the  stand- 
ard by  which  actions  are  tested  becomes  more  ele- 
vated. And  this  increase  in  the  nature  and  opportu- 
nities of  crime  appears  to  keep  pace  with  the  progress 
of  civilization,  and  the  only  check  it  seems  likely  to 
receive,  is  from  the  preventive  influence  of  punish- 
ment. So  also  even  in  the  present  day,  a  rural 
population,  though  equally  unprincipled  with  the 
population  of  a  neighbouring  city,  is  deterred  from 
committing  some  crimes  by  the  certainty  of  conviction, 
and  incapacitated  from  committing  others  by  the  ab- 
sence of  all  means  of  doing  so.  And  this  is  not  the  only 
difference  in  the  criminal  code  of  nations,  for  another 
modification  arises  from  the  standard  of  morals  as  well 
as  from  the  progress  of  civilization  and  refinement. 
Thus  in  France,  where  refinement  may  be  said  to 
have  reached  a  greater  height  than  in  this  country, 
the  law  takes  no  cognizance  of  many  actions  which 
are  here  considered  criminal,  as  adultery,  blasphemy, 
incest,  and  many  other  crimes  of  a  like  character, 
which  shows  that  the  tone  of  morality  may  be  higher 
where  the  number  of  crimes  are  greater,  than  where, 
from  reduced  standards,  no^notice  is  taken  of  them. 
On  the  other  hand,  crimes,  and  the  opportunities  of 
committing  them,  increase  with  the  state  of  educa- 


CRIME.  177 

tion,  and  intelligence,  as  in  this  country,  the  crime 
of  forgery  predominates,  which  Messrs.  Beaumont 
and  De  Toqueville  justly  remark,  "  is  easily  explained 
by  the  state  of  knowledge  in  the  United  States,  the 
immense  number  of  banks,  and  the  great  commercial 
activity  in  that  country." 

In  these  investigations,  therefore,  it  is  very  neces- 
sary to  have  the  several  causes  of  variation  accu- 
rately defined,  in  order  that  we  may  be  able  to  detect 
the  bearing  of  the  statements  upon  the  questions  be- 
fore us.  Arising,  as  crimes  therefore  do,  from  the 
peculiar  constitution  of  society,  from  its  pursuits  and 
general  condition  and  habits,  it  is  useful  to  be  able 
to  discover,  in  what  vein  the  criminal  blood  of  the 
Northern  man  circulates,  what  actions  and  crimes  it 
prompts  him  to,  and  at  the  same  time  to  have  exhi- 
bited the  influence  of  the  warmer  passions,  and  more 
excitable  feelings  of  those  of  the  South.  In  procuring 
such  information,  no  real  difficulty  need  be  encoun- 
tered, as  we  are  able  to  obtain  returns  from  most  of 
the  states  of  the  amount  of  crime  in  1832,  from  the 
Parliamentary  report  of  Mr.  Crawfurd,  already  re- 
ferred to,  which  shows  they  can  easily  be  procured 
in  reference  to  the  year  in  which  the  census  is  taken. 
But  it  comes  to  be  a  question,  into  how  many  subdi- 
visions the  number  of  crimes  committed  ought  to 
be  divided ;  and  whether  it  is  advisable  to  draw  out 
a  table  in  the  manner  of  Mr.  Crawfurd,  adapted  to 
the  condition  of  criminal  jurisprudence  in  each  state, 
or  whether  the  common  though  vague  distribution 
of  crimes  into  those  against  persons,  those  against 
property,  and  those  against  morals  is  not  sufficiently 
minute.  We  have  in  the  French  report,  some  state- 
23 


178 


CRIME. 


ments  given,  from  which  the  following  table  is 
framed,  and  it  may  be  questioned  whether  the  sub- 
divisions ought  to  be  more  numerous. 

Table  of  Prisoners  classed  according  to  their  Offences. 


STATES. 

Y  ears  to 
which  16- 
turns  refer 

CONVICTED  FOR 

CRIMES  AUA1NST 

PROPERTY. 

PERSONS. 

MORALS. 

HiRGERY. 

Connecticut,   .. 
Pennsylvania,.. 
New-  York,  .... 

L78SI..1800, 
1819..  30, 
L78P..180U 
1819..  30, 
1800..  10, 
1820.  .30, 

95.40  per  ct. 
83.10     « 
94.35     « 
94.61      " 
96,45      « 
90.12     " 

4.60  per  ct. 
1690     « 
5.65      « 
534     « 
354     « 
9.37      « 

3.44  per  ct. 
11.34     « 
2.74      " 
1.72      " 
OH7      " 
506      " 

10  34  per  ct. 
13.65     " 
497     "• 

4  84      "  . 
888      " 
16.76      " 

In  Europe,  it  is  generally  conceded,  that  the  more 
society  advances  in  civilization,  the  more  the  relative 
number  of  crimes  against  persons  decreases,  as  is 
very  forcibly  shown  in  some  diagrams  of  M.  Guer- 
ry,  founded  upon  the  actual  returns  from  France. 
In  estimating  the  influence  of  instruction,  M.  Guerry 
takes  as  the  test  of  education,  the  list  of  those  re- 
turned to  the  minister  of  war,  at  the  period  of  con- 
scription, as  able  to  read  and  write ;  apportioning 
France  into  five  divisions,  he  tints  one  map  according 
to  the  state  of  instruction  in  each  section,  and  com- 
pares it  with  another,  depicting,  by  the  same  device, 
the  state  of  crime.  From  this  comparison,  we  see, 
that  while  crimes  against  persons  are  the  most  fre- 
quent in  Corsica,  the  provinces  of  the  South-east, 
and  the  Alsace, where  the  people  are  well  instructed; 
those  crimes  are  fewest  in  Berry,  Limousin,  and 
Brittany,  where  the  people  are  most  ignorant ;  and 
on  the  other  hand,  it  is  invariably  those  departments, 
in  which  education  is  most  prevalent,  that  are  the 
most  criminal.  Such  being  the  case  in  France,  and 
a  common  opinion  of  statists  in  Europe,  it  is  re- 


CRIME.  179 

markable,  that  we  do  not  see  the  same  consequences 
exhibited  in  the  above  table,  where  in  Pennsylvania, 
the  proportion  of  crimes  against  the  person  has  hardly 
varied  within  the  last  thirty  years,  arid  in  the  states 
of  Connecticut  and  New- York,  crimes  against  the 
person  have  actually  increased.    We  have  observed, 
that  this  fact  is  a  remarkable  one,  but  perhaps  it  is 
premature  to  consider  it  as  ascertained,  and  certainly 
incautious,  to  examine  it  without   considering  the 
various  circumstances  which  tend  to  modify  it.     But 
the  question  is  one  of  great  interest,  and  the  amount 
of  information  required  for  the  year  of  the  census 
might  easily  be  obtained,  though  to  make  it  of  its 
fullest  value,  we  will  have  to  wait  for  a  similar  cen- 
sus of  1850,  when  the  comparison  of  the  data  thus 
accurately  procured,  will  enable  us,  with  more  confi- 
denoe,  to  decide  the  questions  of  the  increase  of  crime, 
and  the  effect  of  civilization,  and  free  institutions 
upon  the  moral  habits  of  the  people. 

As  to  the  propriety  of  making  the  investigation  in 
detail,  we  think  much  must  depend  upon  the  zeal 
with  which  the  census  is  undertaken  by  government, 
and  the  expense  which  a  full  enumeration  of  the 
prisoners  would  amount  to,  which  we  are  inclined  to 
believe  would  be  inconsiderable,  and  nothing  save 
the  expense  ought  to  prevent  such  from  being  done. 
We  subjoin  a  table  founded  on  the  penal  code  of 
Pennsylvania,  which  exhibits  the  subject  of  this  and 
the  last  head,  viz.  the  age  and  crime  of  the  convict. 


180 


CRIME. 


Table  to  show  the  form  in  which  returns  might  be  made  both  of  the  ages  of  the 
Prisoners,  and  of  the  crimes  for  which  they  are  confined. 


OFFENCES. 

d 

2 
L> 

-3 
& 

1 

15  and  20. 

R  5 

]] 

40  and  50 

g 

'O 

1 

g 

73 

Deaths  in  a  year  1 

No  of  years  of  im- 
prisonment. 

•a 

No.  executed  with- 
in a  year. 

Could  read&  write 
on  committal. 

1 

Could  neither  read 
nor  write. 

Adultery...  • 

Bastardy  

Bribery  at  Election 

Dompoun'g  Felony 

rlorse  stealing  .... 

Malicious  mischief 
Manslaughter  
Murder. 

ftntiherv 

reason 

Sentence. — It  would  be  interesting  to  have  the 
amount  of  sentence  awarded  in  the  different  states, 
for  various  crimes,  accurately  ascertained ;  for  the 
moral  tone  pervading  a  community  may  be  more 
thoroughly  tested  by  the  abhorrence  with  which  a 
crime  is  punished,  than  by  the  frequency  of  convic- 
tion for  it.  In  this  there  would  be  no  difficulty,  for 
the  peculiar  aggravations  of  the  punishment  might 
be  omitted,  and  no  notice  taken  of  the  diet  or  seclu- 
sion to  which  the  convict  is  restricted,  as  since  the 
introduction  of  penitentiaries  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  little  distinction  is  made  in  the  treatment  of 
criminals,  the  difference  of  punishment  consisting 
mainly  in  the  duration  of  the  period  of  confinement. 
A  curious  practice  prevails  in  this  country  of  obliging 


CRIME.  181 

the  convict  to  pay  the  expenses  of  his  own  conviction, 
and,  as  it  were,  liquidate  the  expense  to  which  he 
has  put  the  government ;  and  though  this  seems  a 
very  just  principle  where  the  labour  of  the  convict 
exceeds  the  value  cf  his  maintenance,  it  is  a  princi- 
ple which  neither  the  policy  nor  arrangements  of 
England  or  France  recognize.  In  the  state  of  New 
Jersey,  the  prisoner  has  a  certain  allotted  task  to 
perform,  and  he  is  allowed,  after  his  work  is  over,  to 
continue  his  labour  for  the  purpose  of  accumulating 
a  sum  to  pay  for  the  expenses  of  conviction  ;  and  if 
he  does  not  do  so,  his  term  of  imprisonment  is  pro- 
longed until  the  value  of  his  labour  equals  the  amount 
required.  The  French  commissioners  complain 
loudly  of  this  practice,  and  of  the  state's  appropri- 
ating all  the  earnings  of  the  criminals ;  and  they  think 
that  the  pecule,  or  over-stint,  ought  certainly  to  be 
allowed  as  an  encouragement  to  labour,  and  that  the 
system  of  withholding  it  is  "excessively  severe." 
But  these  aggravations  of  the  sentence  it  would  per- 
haps be  better  not  to  notice,  and  simply  to  record,  in 
columns  opposite  to  the  crime,  the  sum  total  of  years 
for  which  persons  convicted  of  that  crime  were  sen- 
tenced ;  as,  for  example,  the  crime  of  forgery,  for 
which  four  persons  are  under  sentence,  the  dura- 
tion of  their  imprisonment  might  be  stated  as  14 
years,  and  the  aggregate  amount  of  fine  imposed  in 
addition  to  the  sentence,  if  any,  might  be  noted  in  a 
table  appended  to  the  summary  of  crimes  and  ages. 

If  the  census  is  to  be  made  out  so  as  to  take  ac- 
count of  the  health  and  longevity  of  the  population, 
it  would  be  well  to  have  a  return  made  of  the  num- 
ber of  deaths  in  a  prison  or  penitentiary  within  a 


182  CRIME. 

year,  as  it  would  then  be  easy  to  test  not  only  the 
effect  of  confinement,  but  the  comparative  effect  of 
the  different  systems,  the  Auburn  and  Pennsylvania. 
As  such  information  could  easily  be  obtained  from 
the  keeper  of  the  prison,  there  would  seem  to  be  no 
necessity  of  dwelling  longer  upon  it ;  audit  may  only 
be  necessary  to  state  the  different  results  that  appear 
in  different  states  and  countries  to  flow  from  the  sys- 
tems of  punishment  pursued,  to  show  the  interest 
which  would  be  attached  to  such  returns  from  the 
prisons  and  penitentiaries  of  this  country.  The 
number  of  deaths  in  the  various  prisons  has  been, 
on  an  average,  for  three  years,  according  to  the  fol- 
lowing table : 

Table  of  proportion  of  Deaths  in  various  Penitentiaries. 


At  Walnut-street,  Philadelphia,  .1  died  in  16.66 

At  Newgate,  New-Yoik, 1  "  «  18.80 

AtSing-Sing 1  «  "3658 

AtWethe:sfield 1  «  "44.40 

At  Maryland  Penitentiary, 1  "  "  48.57 

At  Auburn, 1  "  «  55.96 

At  Charl^stown, 1  "  "5840 

At  the  Central  Houses  in  France,  1  "  «  14.00 


The  increasing  health  of  particular  penitentiaries 
is  a  pleasing  fact  for  the  philanthropist,  and  the 
moral  training  of  the  prisoners  seems  best  to  accord 
with  the  system  of  discipline  which  affords  the  great- 
est amount  of  health.  The  ease  with  which  this 
return  can  be  made  out  seems  of  itself  to  be  a  suffi- 
cient reason  for  procuring  it,  especially  as  the  in- 
formation is  greatly  sought  after  by  the  Howards  of 
our  day. 


CRIME. 


183 


Table  of  the  Prisoners  in  Bridewell  in  the  City  of  Glasgow  on  25<A  March,  1831, 
classified  according  to  their  Country  and  Education.* 


SCOTCH. 

ENGLISH. 

IRISH. 

| 

cj 

1 

1 

, 

» 

1 

"3 

S 

a 

3 

13 

S 

0 

"5 

s 

f 

ji 

fc 

h 

& 

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S 

£ 

EH 

S 

fc_ 

EH 

43 

44 

87 

m 

3 

6 

17 

9 

15 

5Q 

49 

108 

34 

7 

100 
9 

134 
16 

2 
1 

8 
1 

10 
2 

7 
8 

18 
6 

25 
14 

44 
16 

126 
16 

170 
32 

Can  neither  read  nor  write, 

4 

153 

237 

6 

12 

18 

28 

26 

54 

119 

191 

310 

*  Cleland's  Statistics,  p.  123. 

Previous  education  of  convicts. — "The  question," 
says  Dr.  Lieber,  in  some  very  pertinent  remarks  on 
this  subject — "  the  question,  'Does  diffusion  of  know- 
ledge increase  or  diminish  crime,  or  has  it  110  influ- 
ence at  all  upon  it  7  is  of  vital  interest  to  society ; 
and  thorough  inquiries  ought  to  be  made  upon  all 
sides,  searching  unflinchingly  for  truth.  It  would 
be  well  if  those  who  propose  to  investigate  this  im- 
portant subject  would  make  a  marked  difference 
between  knowledge  and  education.  A  certain  kind 
of  knowledge  and  the  skill  of  a  nation  may  greatly 
increase,  and  yet  education  may  stand  very  low  ; 
and  thus  partial  civilization  may  very  much  advance, 
and  yet  education  be  comparatively  neglected,  which 
is  in  our  opinion  the  worst  of  all  conditions.  We 
repeat  it  once  more,  go  to  the  prisons,  and  inquire 
into  the  history  of  each  convict,  and  then  see  whe- 
ther knowledge  or  its  want  is  the  chief  cause  of 
crime.  We  would  suggest  that  in  future  reports  of 
our  state  prisons  one  or  two  divisions  should  be 
added,  in  which  the  education  a  convict  has  enjoyed 
should  be  indicated  in  a  few  words."  With  these 
suggestions  we  most  cordially  agree,  and  maintain 
that  until  this  be  done,  it  is  useless  to  speculate  on 
the  meager  facts  which  are  so  often  presented  to  us. 


184  CRIME. 

This  subject  is  one  of  vast  importance  as  connected 
with  national  education,  as  an  opinion  is  abroad  that 
education  is  by  no  means  the  excellent  thing  which 
some  maintain  it  to  be,  but  that  the  lower  classes  will 
be  more  virtuous  and  contented  without  it ;  and  this 
assumption  is  seemingly  sustained  by  some  French 
statistics,  and  even  the  French  commissioners  on  the 
penitentiary  system  seem  to  be  carried  away  by  some 
such  opinion,  when  they  say  :  "  We  do  not  believe 
that  to  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  this  decrease  of 
crime  is  to  be  attributed ;  because  in  Connecticut, 
where  knowledge  is  still  more  diffused  than  in  the 
state  of  New  York,  crimes  increase  with  extreme 
rapidity ;  and  if  we  cannot  reproach  knowledge  with 
this  prodigious  increase,  we  are  at  least  constrained 
to  acknowledge  that  it  has  not  the  power  of  prevent- 
ing it."  If  such  opinions  are  broached  by  men  of 
high  influence,  the  time  for  the  friends  of  universal 
education  to  exert  themselves  most  strenuously  has  cer- 
tainly come,  and  they  need  not  fear  the  result.  It  is 
true,  that  the  sources  of  pleasure  and  improvement  are 
also  the  sources  of  crime  and  vice  ;  that  the  wants  of 
educated  communities  are  more  varied  than  the  ne- 
cessaries which  may  suffice  for  a  more  rustic  people ; 
and  that  in  proportion  as  wants  are  augmented,  crime 
is  increased — this,  and  all  such  general  conclusions, 
may  be  true,  or  they  may  be  false  ;  but  they  are  not 
the  grounds  on  which  the  advocate  of  improvement 
and  education  wishes  to  meet  the  question.  He 
looks  at  the  criminal  as  a  man  like  himself,  and 
views  him  as  having  fallen,  though  not  irretrievably, 
from  the  standard  of  virtue :  he  desires  not  to  pro- 
mote a  Utopian  information,  but  to  renew  and  quicken 


CRIME*  185 

the  moral  sympathies  of  the  convict.  Such  are 
the  motives  which  prompt  the  philanthropist ;  and  as 
they  are  awakened  in  the  breast  of  every  feeling 
man  on  coming  in  contact  with  crime,  so  they  are 
constantly  striving  to  prevent  innocence  from  becom- 
ing corrupted  by  intercourse  with  guilt.  The  only  way 
of  enabling  the  mind  of  the  youth  to  repel  the  attacks 
of  vice,  is  by  elevating  the  moral  conceptions,  the 
rudiments  of  which  are  implanted  within,  and,  by 
quickening  all  his  faculties,  to  excite  him  to  the  per- 
formance of  his  moral  duties.  Such,  we  take  it,  is 
the  end  proposed  in  a  general  scheme  of  education? 
and  its  advantages  are,  the  moral  discipline  to  which 
the  business  of  the  school  subjects  the  infant  mind, 
and  the  facilities  thereby  attained  of  procuring  infor- 
mation in  after  life.  If  it  were  true  that  education  in- 
creased the  criminal  appetites  and  passions  in  a 
greater  ratio  than  it  awakened  the  moral  and  mental 
powers  of  man's  constitution,  there  might  be  cause  for 
apprehending  the  evil  consequences  which  would 
arise  from  a  general  diffusion  of  knowledge ;  but 
such  an  argument  would  reach  the  wealthier  and 
more  influential  class  of  society,  as  well  as  the  poorer 
and  more  obscure  ;  and  were  its  truth  established, 
the  midnight  lamp  of  the  student,  and  the  sound  of 
the  school-bell,  ought  alike  to  be  extinguished  and 
silenced,  in  the  hope  of  producing  that  general  igno- 
rance which  had  been  found  so  favourable  to  moral 
and  individual  prosperity. 

But  we  must  call  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  an 
established  fact,  which  throws  much  light  upon  this 
subject,  namely,  that  the  greater  the  degree  of  intel- 
ligence and  education  prevailing  in  a  community,  the 

24 


186  CRIME. 

greater  will  be  the  efficiency  of  its  police,  and  the 
certainty  of  convicting  the  criminal.  We  refer  not 
to  the  systems  of  police  which  prevail  under  some 
European  governments,  which  operate  as  spies  upon 
the  mass  of  the  community,  and  thereby  create  a 
feeling  rather  in  favour  of  the  criminal,  and  against 
the  officers  of  justice,  as  the  interests  of  the  govern- 
ment and  of  the  people  often  by  no  means  agree. 
But  we  refer  to  a  system  which  is  based  upon  the 
good-will  and  cordial  feelings  of  the  public,  where 
the  wish  to  protect  the  criminal  disappears  before 
the  desire  to  uphold  the  laws  ;  and  in  reference  to 
such  a  system,  we  say,  that  the  more  the  people  are 
enlightened,  the  greater  will  be  the  certainty  of  con- 
viction. Let  us  take,  for  example,  the  state  of  Con- 
necticut, where  every  one  can  read,  where  all  enjoy 
the  advantages  of  a  well-organized  society,  and 
where  the  minute  subdivisions  of  the  state  further  the 
investigations  into  every  sort  of  crime  which  may  be 
committed,  be  it  intemperance,  petty  larceny,  or  mis- 
demeanours ;  and  take  the  condition  of  a  correspond- 
ing number  of  inhabitants  in  some  of  the  largest  class 
of  cities,  and  should  it  be  found  that  more  commitments 
took  place  in  Connecticut  than  in  those  districts  of 
large  commercial  cities  where  the  whole  population 
subsist  by  the  earnings  of  vice  and  debauchery,  it 
will  be  evident  that  such  a  result  would  only  estab- 
lish the  superiority  of  the  standard  of  morals,  not  the 
greater  amount  of  crime.  And  the  same  applies  to 
examples  where  the  difference  of  situation  is  not  so 
great,  as,  for  instance,  the  states  of  Connecticut  and 
Pennsylvania :  in  the  former,  where  all  the  popula- 
tion are  intelligent,  and  where  the  code  of  police 


CRIME.  187 

regulations  was  in  part  framed  by  the  Puritan  set- 
tlers; and  in  the  latter,  where  a  large  proportion 
cannot  read,  and  where  the  habits  of  the  people, 
although  rapidly  improving,  are  more  gross  and 
uncultivated.  The  number  of  convictions  alone,  is, 
therefore,  no  criterion  by  which  to  estimate  the  state  of 
crime  ;  and  the  conclusions  which  have  been  drawn 
from  them  are  utterly  valueless,  though  they  would 
have  been  of  immense  value,  had  it  been  possible  to 
obtain  returns  of  the  number  of  crimes  committed  as 
compared  with  the  number  of  the  educated  part  of 
the  population. 

But  of  course  such  a  table  never  can  be  procured, 
so  many  crimes  never  seeing  the  light  of  day,  and 
so  many  being  committed  which  are  not  complained 
of;  and  therefore  we  must  turn  our  attention  to  the 
amount  of  actual  information  which  can  be  procured 
on  this  subject.  We  can  obtain  a  list  of  the  number 
of  criminals  in  confinement  who  can  read  and  write, 
and  we  can  have  a  corresponding  table  made  out  of 
those  in  the  community  at  large  who  have  the  same 
acquirements  ;  and  by  the  comparison  of  the  two  we 
may  arrive  at  some  more  satisfactory  opinion.  The 
division  into  those  who  can  read,  those  who  can  read 
and  write,  and  those  who  can  do  neither,  although 
not  very  satisfactory,  is  perhaps  as  detailed  as  the 
agents  engaged  in  making  out  the  returns  would  be 
able  to  execute — showing,  beyond  the  power  of  con- 
tradiction, the  connexion,  if  there  be  any,  between 
the  possession  of  the  elements  of  education  and  the 
commission  of  crime.  As  in  some  of  the  penitentiaries 
the  prisoners  are  instructed  in  reading  and  writing, 
the  returns  should  be  made  only  in  reference  to  their 


188 


CRIME. 


acquirements  at  the  time  of  commitment.  That  such 
statements  can  be  procured  we  are  easily  convinced 
by  reference  to  the  prison  reports  of  the  different 
states,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  Report  of  the  New 
Jersey  Penitentiary  for  1836,  the  following  return 
occurs  :  "  Of  those  now  in  confinement,  as  near  as 
we  can  ascertain,  17  have  had  good  education,  89 
can  barely  read  and  write,  and  the  remaining  35  can 
neither  read  nor  write."  With  such  a  table,  accu- 
rately made  out,  the  whole  information  which  can 
be  procured  by  any  government  would  be  ascertain- 
ed ;  and  we  firmly  believe  the  blessings  of  education 
and  moral  training  would  triumphantly  appear  greatly 
to  outnumber  the  disadvantages  connected  with  them, 

County  Prisons. — In  reference  to  the  State  Prisons 
andPenitentiaries,  we  have  had  much  pleasure  in  per- 
using the  reports  of  the  different  officers  who  are  en- 
trusted with  their  care,  and  in  extracting  notices  of 
various  useful  topics  about  which  information  is  desir- 
ed ;  but  in  regard  to  the  County  Jails,  our  remarks 
must  be  of  altogether  another  character.  In  the  for- 
mer, we  have  perceived  the  enlightened  principles  of 
Christianity  in  operation,  which,  by  infusing  their 
bland  influence  into  the  precincts  of  the  prison  court- 
yard, have  elevated  the  tone  both  of  the  moral  treat- 
ment and  physical  regulations  of  the  prisoners,  and 
changed  the  character  of  those  who  administer  the 
discipline ;  and,  in  the  language  of  the  Report  of  the 
French  Commissioners,  we  may  say,  "  that  men  like 
Mr.  Samuel  Wood  (the  Superintendent  of  the  East- 
ern Penitentiary,  Philadelphia,)  would  not  be  found 
at  the  head  of  American  Penitentiaries,  were  they  not 


CRIME.  189 

influenced  by  a  nobler  sentiment  than  that  .of  pecu- 
niary interest."  The  ends  of  justice  are  now  attained, 
united  with  the  influences  of  Christianity,  and  the 
prayer  of  the  captive  is  often  seconded  by  the  private 
petition  of  his  jailor.  This  makes  the  subject  inter- 
esting and  elevating,  and  we  look  in  vain  for  anything 
to  excite  a  feeling  of  commiseration  for  the  treat- 
ment of  the  prisoner,  or  of  disgust  at  the  horrors  of 
the  prison  house,  for  in  no  institutions  in  the  country, 
do  we  find  harmony  and  contentment  more  prevalent. 
But  far  other  are  our  feelings,  and  far  different  the 
pleasure  with  which  we  write,  when  we  turn  our  at- 
tention to  the  county  and  city  prisons ;  and  bright 
though  the  laurel  may  be,  which  crowns  the  peniten- 
tiary system,  it  withers  and  fades  if  brought  near  the 
cells  of  a  court  house  prison.  The  laudable  efforts 
of  the  Boston  Prison  Discipline  Society,  have  pro- 
duced good  effects,  and  the  active  exertions  of  Phil- 
anthropists, in  some  of  our  cities,  have  removed  the 
abuses  in  certain  districts  ;  but  from  the  length  and 
breadth  of  our  land,  a  cry  of  distress  and  suffering 
may  be  heard  from  those  whom  some  petty  offences 
have  consigned  to  the  horrors  of  a  county  prison,  and 
if  it  does  not  excite  sympathy,  it  is  only  because  the 
labour  of  the  prisoner,  who  is  committed  for  so  short 
a  time,  holds  out  no  hope  of  remunerating  the  com- 
munity for  any  expense  they  might  incur.  The  man- 
ager of  a  Penitentiary  who,  by  laudable  exertion  and 
active  attention,  can  defray  all  the  expense  of  his  es- 
tablishment by  the  labour  of  the  convicts,  as  was  the 
case  last  year  at  Lambertville,  New- Jersey,  has  an 
easy  task,  and  an  approving  public,  compared  to  the 
county  jailor  whose  expenses  increase  with  attention 


190  CRIME. 

to  the  necessary  wants  and  justly  expected  comforts 
of  the  prisoners,  and  who  has  no  right  to  anticipate* 
that  any  large  amount  of  work  can  be  done  by  pris- 
oners situated  as  his  always  are.  If  the  Peniten- 
tiaries are  the  boast  of  this  country,  the  county  jails 
are  its  disgrace ;  and  if  the  one  are  an  example 
worthy  the  imitation  of  foreign  countries,  the  foreign 
jails  should  be  taken  as  a  criterion  of  what  the  others 
might  be. 

Of  the  number  of  prisoners  in  the  various  county 
jails,  their  treatment  and  management,  the  communi- 
ty at  large  are  in  utter  ignorance,  and  perhaps  noth- 
ing will  convey  a  more  correct  estimate  of  the  mag- 
nitude of  this  interesting  subject,  than  the  statement 
made  in  the  Boston  Prison  Discipline  Reports,  that 
by  the  operation  of  one  law  alone,  imprisonment  for 
debt,  ten  thousand  persons  are  annually  committed 
to  jail.  The  question  is  not,  therefore,  one  which  af- 
fects only  a  few  criminals,  but,  taking  the  country  at 
large,  perhaps  one  hundred  thousand  persons  were 
incarcerated  for  debt,  for  crimes — -for  even  alleged 
crimes,  in  places  which  the  pen  almost  shrinks  from 
describing.  In  reference  to  the  State  of  New- Jer- 
sey :  "  On  this  subject,  we  know  nothing  worse  in  the 
whole  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  than  in  New- 
Jersey.  The  number  committed  to  prison  for  debt, 
according  to  their  population,  their  filthy  and  neglect- 
ed condition  while  incarcerated,  the  small  sum  for 
which  it  is  done,  the  expense  to  some  of  the  counties 
of  this  most  fruitless  mode  of  collecting  debts,  the 
leaving  of  debtors  in  prison  without  any  provision  in 
law  for  their  support.  The  laws  of  New-Jersey, 
says  a  humane  Sheriff  of  one  of  the  counties,  provide 


CRIME.  191 

food,  bedding,  and  fuel  for  criminals,  but  for  debtors 
nothing  is  provided  but  walls,  bars,  and  bolts.  A 
member  of  the  legislature  of  New-Jersey  described 
the  condition  of  a  jail  in  that  State,  where  he  at- 
tempted to  go  among  the  criminals  and  debtors  in 
one  mass  of  common  corruption,  but  the  air  was  in 
such  a  state  that  he  could  not  do  it."*  "  We  have," 
say  the  French  Commissioners,  "  deeply  sighed  when 
at  Cincinnati,  visiting  the  prison,  we  found  half  of 
the  imprisoned  charged  with  irons,  and  the  rest 
plunged  into  an  infected  dungeon  ;  and  are  unable  to 
describe  the  painful  impression  which  we  experien  • 
ced  when  examining  the  prison  in  New-Orleans,  we 
found  men  together  with  hogs  in  the  midst  of  all 
odours  and  nuisances.  In  locking  up  the  criminals, 
no  one  thinks  of  rendering  them  better,  but  only  of 
taming  their  malice.  They  are  put  in  chains  like 
ferocious  beasts,  and,  instead  of  being  corrected,  they 
are  rendered  brutal." — Beaumont  &  De  Toqueville, 
p.  113.  It  is  not  a  pleasanttask,  after  having  traced 
the  improvement  perceptible  in  the  state  penitentia- 
ries, to  detail  the  misery  that  prevails  in  these  sad 
specimens  of  what  confinement  used  formerly  always 
to  be  ;  and  we  would  not  now  do  so,  did  we  not  de- 
sire to  excite  the  attention  of  the  general  government 
to  the  number  of  prisoners  who  suffer  annually  from 
the  shameful  treatment  here  detailed. 

Such  is  the  accommodation  provided  for  the  crimi- 
nals, and  we  have  been  assured  by  those  in  confine 
ment  in  a  State  Prison,  that  the  horrors  of  a  county 
jail  were  tenfold  greater  than  the  solitude  and  discip- 

•  Prison  Discipline  Reports,  No.  TL  1831. 


192  CRIMES. 

line  of  a  well  conducted  Penitentiary.  And  wlio  are 
exposed  to  this  treatment  ?  Were  it  only  the  hard- 
ened criminal  who  had  been  long  inured  to  crime 
and  to  punishment,  whose  hand,  for  years,  had  been 
against  every  man's  hand,  who  was  debased  and 
abandoned  beyond  reclaim ;  we  doubt  much  the  right 
which  society  has  to  use  such  brutal  treatment  to 
avenge  itself  of  the  injuries  inflicted  upon  it,  for  by 
such  treatment,  amendment  never  can  be  expected. 
Were  such  only  committed  to  the  county  jail,  human- 
ity should  raise  her  cry,  and  the  voice  of  an  enlight- 
ened public  should  exclaim,  let  mercy  season  justice. 
But  far  other  are  the  inmates  of  the  various  jails 
throughout  the  country.  We  have  there,  the  debtor, 
whom  misfortune,  or  it  may  be  at  worst  imprudence, 
has  perchance  reduced  from  a  higher  and  more 
elevated  station  in  society.  "  There,  too,  is  the  boy, 
whom  a  little  indiscreet  wildness,  often  the  element, 
if  well  directed,  of  future  greatness,  has  reduced  from 
his  much  prized  liberty  :  now  a  ready  scholar  of  the 
accomplished  thief,  where  he  finds  fit  associates  that 
make  his  second  entrance  to  the  house  of  detention, 
only  a  passage  to  the  Penitentiary,  or,  in  our  present 
system,  to  the  gallows." 

But  when  we  add  to  this,  that  the  accused  are  im- 
prisoned night  and  day,  with  the  most  hardened 
criminals ;  that  innocence  is  associated  with  vice  ;  and 
that  corruption  is  encouraged  in  the  progress  of  jus- 
tice ;  enough  were  said  to  make  it  abundantly  evi- 
dent that  this  is  an  inquiry  which  ought  to  be  carried 
on  by  the  Government,  in  order  to  determine  how 
many  of  its  citizens  are  debarred  from  personal  lib- 
erty, and  placed  in  barbarous  imprisonment  upon  the 


CKIMK. 


193 


mere  suspicion  of  crime.  The  following  statement 
is  extracted  from  Mr.  Livingston's  introduction  to  the 
code  of  Louisiana  ;  in  which  the  distressed  convict, 
and  accused  prisoner,  find  an  eloquent  appeal  to  the 
best  feelings  of  humanity ;  with  what  effect  it  has 
been  received,  however,  the  destitute  condition  of  the 
jails,  too  plainly  evinces.  This  table  exhibits  the 
number  of  accused,  acquitted,  and  sentenced  in  New 
York  city  for  several  consecutive  years,  furnished  to 
Mr.  Livingston  by  ex-recorder  Riker. 


1822, 

1823. 

1824. 

1825. 

1826. 

Committed  for  Trial  •• 

2361 

1928 

1961 

2168 

g->73 

Tried  

5  9 

586 

547 

662 

361 

422 

417 

3rt6 

462 

OQ90 

177 

Hi! 

161 

2  0 

Total,  discharged  and  acquitted,  . 

1506 

1544 

1782 

1811 

When  such  is  the  number  of  persons  who  are  proved 
to  be  innocent  upon  trial,  it  is  lamentable  to  think  that 
in  the  county  jails,  a  suspected  person,  perhaps  some 
friendless,  yet  innocent  stranger,  may,  without  crime  or 
guilt  of  any  kind,  but  merely  upon  an  unjust  suspicion, 
be  kept  imprisoned  for  a  term  of  three  months,  in  some 
places  six  months,  in  company  with  those  from  whom 
his  soul  recoils ;  where  the  necessaries  of  life  are  barely 
supplied,  the  comforts  quite  overlooked  ;  and  where 
the  moral  contamination  around  him  can  hardly  fail 
to  weaken  his  principles,  as  it  must  outrage  his  feel- 
ings. Such  being  the  condition  of  county  jails,  and 
the  number  there  imprisoned  being  so  great,  it  well 
becomes  Government  to  inquire  into  their  condition, 
were  it  only  to  awaken  the  philanthropist,  and  stir 
up  the  zeal  of  the  Christian  community ;  for  while 

25 


194  CRIME. 

much  has  been  done  for  the  State  Prison,  and  re- 
ports and  messages  congratulatory  to  the  well  direct- 
ed efforts,  are  daily  poured  forth,  not  a  voice  is  heard 
exciting  the  compassion  of  the  multitude,  for  the  con- 
dition of  the  county  prisoner.  Religious  instruction 
is  not  proffered  to  him,  but  despair  and  dejection 
are  almost  the  only  alternatives  of  contamination  and 
degradation. 

But  to  return — for  we  have  been  seduced  away 
from  our  more  legitimate  therne,  in  the  hope  of 
attracting  some  attention  to  the  sufferings  of  the  pris- 
oners in  the  county  jails;  and  the  injustice  of  con- 
fining the  accused  with  the  condemned.  We  would 
now  refer  to  the  information  which  may  be  procured 
at  the  different  jails  throughout  the  country. 

The  following  divisions  might  serve  to  elucidate 
all  the  information  which  is  desirable  in  regard  to 
county  prisoners,  viz : 

I.  A  distribution  into  three  classes  : 

1.  Debtors,  or  those  who  are  confined  to  insure 
their  attendance  as  witnesses,  &,c. 

2.  Suspected  persons,  committed  to  jail  on  a  war- 
rant. 

3  Convicted  criminals,  whether  sentenced  to  the 
State  Prison,  or  the  County  Jail,  thereby  including 
all  convicted  persons  at  the  time  of  the  examination. 

II.  Tables  of  all  convicted  prisoners  in  the  County 
Jails  are  ranged  according  to  their 

1.  Ages, 

2.  Places  of  nativity, 

3.  Crimes, 

4.  Sentence, 

5.  Education, 


CRIME.  195 

being  the  same  queries  as  \£ere  proposed  in  reference 
to  the  State  Prisons,  with  the  exception  of  the  returns 
of  the  health  of  the  prisoners,  which  from  various 
circumstances  it  would  be  inexpedient'  to  follow  out. 
That  all  the  information  here  required,  might  easily 
be  obtained,  there  cannot  be  a  doubt,  and  as  showing 
more  conclusively  the  progress  of  morality  in 
the  country  at  large,  than  the  State  Prison  returns 
alone,  we  would  fain  hope  that  the  subject  may  be 
pursued,  and  in  investigating  it,  the  condition  of  the 
prisoners  would  be  brought  more  before  the  public, 
and  the  injustice  of  promiscuous  confinement  be  made 
more  fully  manifest ;  and  then  some  hope  might  be 
cherished,  that  the  fearful  scenes  to  which  we  have 
referred,  would  cease  to  exist. 

State  of  the  Laws.  There  yet  remains  one  subject 
connected  with  crime  and  its  punishment,  to  which 
we  have  to  refer,  and  that  is,  the  propriety  of  having 
accurate  information  afforded  of  the  actual  condition 
of  the  penal  code  in  the  various  States.  In  so  many 
constantly  changing  laws  as  obtain  in  the  26  states, 
it  is  quite  impossible,  to  make  an  accurate  estimate  of 
crime  without  knowing  the  condition  of  the  codes  of 
the  various  states,  and  the  constant  alterations  which 
they  undergo,  make  it  difficult  for  the  statist,  to 
keep  pace  with  the  changes.  We  are  well  aware 
that  in  New- York  and  several  of  the  other  north- 
ern States,  the  system  of  imprisonment  for  debt 
has  been  abolished,  although  we  have  spoken  of  it 
above  as  if  it  still  existed,  but  though  it  no  longer 
disgraces  the  statute  book  of  that  State,  it  is  to  be 
found  in  others ;  and  there  is  no  digest  of  informa- 
tion on  such  subjects  of  which  the  general  student 


196  CHIME. 

\ 

can  avail  himself.  But  if  such  is  the  case  with 
so  prominent  a  question  as  imprisonment  for  debt,  to 
how  much  greater  an  extent  does  it  prevail  when  the 
various  crimes  on  the  calendar  are  investigated,  and 
where  can  the  desired  information,  so  essential  to  an 
examination  into  the  condition  of  criminal  jurispru- 
dence be  found  ?  Now  it  is  generally  thought  that 
there  is  great  uniformity  in  the  laws  of  the  several 
states,  regarding  the  punishment  of  crime ;  and  in  Eu- 
rope, we  constantly  see  reference  made  to  the  practice 
of  the  United  States,  as  if  that  were  a  universal  stand- 
ard, but  to  show  how  much  the  different  states  vary, 
we  turn  to  the  authority  so  often  already  quoted,  in 
which  we  find  the  following  extracts.  "  Let  us  com- 
pare," say  the  French  Commissioners,  "  the  laws  of 
Pennsylvania  with  those  of  New-England,  which  is 
perhaps  the  most  enlightened  part  of  the  American 
Union.  In  Massachusetts,  there  are  10  different 
crimes  punished  by  death  ;  Maine,  Rhode-Island,  and 
Connecticut,  count  the  same  number  of  capital  crimes. 
Among  these  laws,  some  contain  the  most  degrading 
punishments,  such  as  pillory,  others  revolting  cruel- 
ties, such  as  branding  and  mutilation.  Close  by  a 
state  where  the  penal  law  seems  to  have  arrived  at 
its  summit,  we  find  another,  the  criminal  laws  of 
which  are  stamped  with  all  the  brutalities  of  the 
ancient  system.  It  is  thus  that  the  State  of  Dela- 
ware, so  far  behind  in  the  path  of  improvement,  bor- 
ders on  Pennsylvania,  which  in  this  respect,  marches 
at  the  head  of  all  others."  We  will  hereafter  give 
the  revised  code  of  Pennsylvania,  and  now  mention 
some  of  the  laws  of  Delaware,  (in  1833.)  Forgery 
is  punished  thus — 


CRIME.  197 

"  The  convict  is  sentenced  to  a  fine,  pillory,  and  three 
months  solitary  confinement ;  at  the  expiration  of  this 
punishment,  he  wears  on  his  back,  for  not  less  than 
two,  and  not  more  than  five  years,  the  letter  F, 
(forgery)  in  scarlet  colour  on  his  dress.  This  letter 
must  be  six  inches  long  and  two  inches  wide.  And 

Poisoning  is  thus  punished :  The  convict  may  be 
sentenced  to  a  fine  of  $10,000,  one  hours  exhibition 
at  the  pillory,  and  to  be  publicly  whipped,  he  must 
receive  60  lashes  "  well  laid  on,"  he  then  goes  for 
four  years  into  prison,  after  which  he  is  sold  as  a 
slave  for  a  time  not  exceeding  14  years." 

And  in  Massachusetts,  until  1829,  it  was  the  cus- 
tom to  mark  on  the  arm  of  re-convicted  criminals,  on 
the  expiration  of  their  sentence,  the  words,  Massachu- 
setts State  Prison. 

The  contrast  which  such  laws  as  these,  present  to 
the  mild  codes  of  Pennsylvania,  New- Jersey,  and 
New- York,  make  it  absolutely  necessary  for  the  sta- 
tist to  have  some  accurate  data  upon  which  to  found 
his  inquiries,  and  it  would  be  extremely  interesting 
to  observe  the  progress  or  the  decline  of  a  particular 
crime,  in  connection  with  the  severity  or  leniency  of 
the  law  regarding  it.  It  is  well  known  that  the  pe- 
nal code  has  often  been  so  sanguinary,  that  no  jury 
could  be  found  in  many  cases  to  bring  in  a  verdict  of 
guilty  ;  and  it  is  to  examine  the  general  working  of 
a  system  which  occasionally  produces  such  results, 
that  the  statist  desires  accurate  returns  of  the  exist- 
ing condition  of  the  laws  in  each  state.  And  such 
returns  can  be  made  at  very  little  expense  or  trouble, 
by  the  marshals  of  each  district,  or  perhaps  more 
correctly  by  the  U.  S.  District  Attorney.  Were  this 


198  CRIME. 

officer  required  to  make  out  returns  of  the  severity  of 
the  penal  code  in  the  state  for  which  he  officiated,  in 
the  same  way  as  Mr.  Crawfurd  in  his  able  report  to 
the  British]  Parliament  has  done ;  the  knowledge 
which  would  be  possessed  of  the  condition  of  the 
penal  code  would  be  complete,  and  that  taken  in 
connection  with  the  various  returns  we  have  already 
mentioned  as  to  numbers,  crimes,  and  sentences, 
would  be  as  satisfactory  as  possible,  and  we  believe 
might  easily  be  obtained.  We  append  Mr.  Crawford's 
report  of  the  code  of  Pennsylvania,  to  show  how 
these  returns  might  be  made  out,  and  in  concluding 
this  chapter,  w^e  must  remark  that  no  topic  of  examina- 
tion is  more  useful  in  promoting  the  moral  well-being 
of  the  community,  and  no  information  is  more  de- 
sired by  the  Philanthropist. 


199 


OFFENCES.  PUNISHMENTS. 

•Adultery,  Fine  not  exceeding  250  dollars,  and  im- 

prisonment from  3  to  12  months. 

Arson,  Burning  any  house,  out-house,  Solitary  confinement  at  labour  from  1  to 
&c. ;  church,  barn,  hay-stack,  &c.;       10  years, 
maliciously,    or    being  accessory 
before  the  fact,  Offence  I. 

Offence  II.  The  same,  not  exceeding  15  years. 

Bastardy,  Concealing  the  death  of  a  Imprisonment  in  County  jail,  or  solitary 
Bastard  child,  Offence  I.       confinement  at  labour,  not  exceeding 

5  years,  or  fine  and  imprisonment. 
Offence  II.  Imprisonment  for  life. 
Bigamy,  Including  second  husband  or  Fine  and  imprisonment  at  hard  labour, 

wife,  if  aware  of  the  fact,  not  exceeding  2  years. 

Llasphemy,  Fine  of  $50,  or  3  months'  hard  labour. 

Bribery  at  Election,  Fine  not  exceeding  $250,  and  imprison- 

ment not  exceeding  6  months. 

Burglary,  Breaking  into   a    dwelling-  Solitary  confinement  at  labour  from  2 
house  by  night,  to  commit  a  felo-       to  10  years: 
ny,  or  accessary,  Offence  I. 

Offenco  II.  The  same,  not  exceeding  15  years. 

Breaking  State-house,    or    other  Fine  and  solitary  confinement,  not  ex- 
public  building  with  like  intent,          ceeding  7  years. 

Compounding  Felony,  where  goods  have  A  fine  twice  the  sum  agreed  on. 
been  stolen, 

Duelling,  Fighting  a  duel ;  sending,  or  Fine  of  $500,  imprisonment  1  year  at 
accepting  a  challenge  ;  posting  for       hard   labour,    and     deprived   of  the 
not  fighting,  or  printing  bills  for      rights  of  citizenship  for  seven  years, 
posting,  or   refusing  to  give  au- 
thors. 

Bearing  challenge,  or  consenting  Fine  of  $500,  imprisonment  for  1  year 
to  be  second.  at  hard  labour,  and  disqualified  for 

holding  office. 

Having  knowledge  of  a  duel,  or  Fine    $50,    and    imprisonment    for    9 
being  present  at  one.  months. 

Forgery,  In  general,  including  coining,  Solitary  confinement  at  labour  from  1  to 
altering,  or  defacing  deeds  :  utter-       7  years, 
ing  or  having  forged  notes,  &c.  in 
possession  ;    making    or   passing 
paper  for  notes,  Offence  I. 

Offence  II.  Imprisonment  not  exceeding  10  years. 

Fornication,  Fine  and  imprisonment  at  hard  labour, 

not  exceeding  7  years. 

Gaming,  Keeping  certain  tables.  Fine,  not  exceeding  $100  and  imprison- 

ment in  the  county  jail  not  exceeding 
1  year. 

Fighting  cocks,  or  betting  on  them.  Fine  $40,  or,  in  default,  imprisonment, 

not  exceeding  30  days. 

Horse  stealing,  or  accessory  before  the  Solitary  confinement  from  1  to  4  years, 
fact,  Offence  I. 

Offence  II.  Same,  not  exceeding  7  years. 

Incest,  The  same  as  Adultery  or  Fornication,  as 

the  case  may  be. 

Kidnapping,  Offence  1.  Solitary  confinement  at  labour,  from  5  to 

12  years. 
Offence  II.  The  same,  for  21  years. 


200  CRIME. 


Larceny,  Stealing  to  the  value  of  $4  or  Restoration  of  the  goods  stolen,  or  their 
upwards,  value,  fine  to  the  same  amount,  and 

hard  labour,  not  exceeding  3  years. 

Value  under  $4.  Restoration  of  the  goods  stolen,  or  their 

value,  fine  to  the  same  amount,  and 
imprisonment  at  hard  labour,  not  ex- 
ceeding 1  year. 

Receiving    Stolen    Goods    vjhen  A  misdemeanor,  punishment  the  same  as 
principal  is  not  convicted.  if  principal  were  convicted. 

Maiming,  Aiding,  abetting,  or  counsel-  Solitary  confinement,  at  labour  from  1  to 
ling  thereto,  Offence  I.       7  years. 

Offence  II.  The  same,  not  exceeding  14  years. 

Malicious  Mischief,  To  knockers,  sign-  Fine  and  imprisonment,  not  exceeding 
boards,  &c.  7  years. 

Manslaughter,  Offence  I.  Solitary  confinement  at  labour  from  2  to 

6  years. 

Offence  II.  The  same  from  6  to  12  years. 
Involuntary,  committed   in  son:e  A  misdemeanor, 
unlawful  act,  not  making  it  murder. 

Murder,  First  degree,  by  poison,  lying  Death, 
in  wait,  or  deliberate  killing,  or  in 
an  attempt,  at  Arson,  Rape,  Rob- 
bery, or  Burglary. 

Second  degree,  or  any  other  kind  Solitary  confinement  at  labour,  from  4  to 
of  Murder,  Offence  I.       12  years. 

Offence  II.  Same,  for  life. 

Perjury,  Or  subornation  thereof,  Solitary  confinement  at  labour,  from  1  to 

Offence  T.       5  years,  and  disqualified  as  a  witness. 
Offence  II.  The  same  for  life. 

Robbery,  Or  Accessary  before  the  fact,  Solitary  confinement  at  labour,  from  2 
Offence  I.       to  7  years. 
Offence  II.  The  same,  not  exceeding  10  years. 

Sodomy,  Offence  I.  Solitary  confinement  at  labour,  1  to  5  yrs. 

Offence  II.  Same,  not  exceeding  10  years. 

Treason,  High,  Offence  I.  Solitary  confinement  at  labour,  3  to  6  yrs 

Offence  II.  Same,  not  exceeding  10  years. 
Petit  Treason,  As  in  other  kinds  of  murder. 

NOTE.    It  is  not  stated  whether  the  term  II.  offence  applies  only  to  previous  conviction  in 
this  State,  or  whether  it  is  in  evidence  to  produce  proof  of  committal  in  any  other  State. 


201 

r  L[  lilt  A  LI  V 

UN  IV  KKSITV   OF 

ALmmNLV, 

/ 

PAUPERISM. 


"  Pauperism,  pauper,  poor  man,  are  expressions  of 
pity,  but  .pity  alloyed  with  contempt, — no  one  pro- 
perly contemns  a  beggar."  This,  though  said  with 
the  quairitness  and  irony  peculiar  to  Lamb,  is  essen- 
tially true,  and  reveals  much  of  the  hidden  philoso- 
phy of  charity.  That  the  only  links  which  bind  the 
human  family  together,  are  not  those  of  service  and 
reward,  of  duty  and  obedience,  the  most  casual  ob- 
server will  admit ;  but  it  is  not  easy  to  appreciate 
fully  the  secret  sympathies  which,  like  an  arterial 
system,  penetrate  every  grade  of  human  society. 
There  is  no  heart  that  cannot  be  touched  by  some 
motive  of  a  purer  influence,  however  debased  its 
common  sentiments  may  be,  and  there  is  no  creature 
so  degraded,  from  whom  a  fellow-being  would  not 
accept  a  silent  token  of  affectionate  gratitude.  And 
it  is  from  this  cause,  we  believe,  that  the  words  of 
Lamb  derive  their  truth.  There  is  no  act  of  charity 
which  we  can  perform,  for  which  we  cannot  receive 
some  return,  whether  it  be  gratitude  or  commenda- 
tion, and  by  preserving  our  respect  for  the  recipient 
of  the  charity,  we  make  his  gratitude  or  his  apprecia- 
tion of  our  kindness,  more  worthy  of  acceptance. 
But  this  applies  to  private  charities ;  in  public  alms- 
giving the  case  is  different.  In  using  the  term  pau- 
26 


202 


PAUPERISM. 


perism,  we  refer  to  a  compulsory  aliment,  which, 
while  destroying  all  opportunity  of  producing  kind 
sympathies  between  man  and  his  fellow-men,  be- 
stows the  means  of  subsistence  to  the  indigent  pau- 
per, contemplating  only  his  animal  wants.  Pau- 
perism infers  a  legal  assessment  upon  the  property  of 
the  wealthy,  and  a  legal  right  to  maintenance  on  the 
part  of  the  indigent  portion  of  the  community.  There 
is  nothing  gratuitous — there  is  nothing  voluntary, 
connected  with  public  charity ;  but  by  legal  provi- 
sion, a  certain  part  of  each  man's  property  is  taken 
from  him,  and  given  to  his  pauper  neighbour, — and 
is  given  grudgingly, 

In  every  country,  and  under  every  government, 
poverty  and  wretchedness  must  exist.  It  is  not  for 
man  to  scan  the  decrees  of  the  Almighty,  or  to  repine 
at  the  hardships  which  many  of  his  race  may  seem 
unayailingly  to  endure  ;  but,  worshipping  the  benefi- 
cence of  his  Creator,  he  must  acquiesce  in  the  justice 
of  His  dispensations.  That"  the  poor  ye  have  al- 
ways with  you,"  experience  has  too  painfully  proved  ; 
and  it  becomes  alike  the  duty  of  the  Statesman,  Phil- 
anthropist, and  Christian,  to  alleviate  their  sufferings 
and  mitigate  their  privations.  As  society  advances 
in  civilization,  the  density  of  population  has  always 
increased,  and  with  it,  the  poverty  and  wretchedness 
of  a  portion  of  the  community.  Human  society  has 
never  been  freed  from  this  stain,  and,  like  a  leprous 
spot,  it  has  at  times  threatened  to  corrupt  its  whole 
structure.  The  subject,  therefore,  becomes  one  of 
paramount  interest  to  the  United  States,  which  are 
rapidly  increasing  in,  population  and  wealth ;  but  in 
which  it  may  be  hoped  that  wise  legislation  and  pre- 


PAUPERISM.  203 

cautionary  measures  may  long  keep  pauperism  and 
poverty  in  subjection  and  restraint. 

Poverty  may  arise  either  from  unforeseen  and  un- 
avoidable calamities,  or  from  improvident  and  dissi- 
pated habits,  and  it  were  unjust  to  the  sufferers  to 
consider  them  as  classed  together.  It  must  always 
happen  that  a  large  portion  of  the  community  depend 
for  subsistence  upon  the  daily  returns  of  their  labour, 
and  if  sickness  or  accident  befall  them,  they  are  re- 
duced to  rely  on  public  or  private  charity  for  support, 
and  in  the  event  of  death  may  leave  a  family  in  a 
destitute  condition. 

On  the  other  hand,  vice,  dissipation,  and  idleness, 
have  always  thrown  a  large  number  of  paupers  upon 
society,  and  it  has  become  a  question  with  the  com- 
munity, whether  they  are  entitled  to  assistance,  or 
whether  they  ought  not  to  be  left  to  the  unalleviated 
misery  of  the  condition  to  which  they  have  reduced 
themselves. 

It  is  not  our  purpose,  in  these  pages,  to  enter  at 
length  into  the  abstract  principles  of  writers  upon  the 
poor  laws  ;  nor  to  coincide  with,  nor  to  attempt  to  re- 
fute their  theories;  but  after  examining  the  subject  of 
charity  generally,  we  will  enumerate  those  circum- 
stances which  give  one  part  of  the  community  a  right 
to  expect  the  aid  of  the  other ;  then  refer  to  the  gene- 
ral condition  of  the  poor  laws  in  this  country ;  and  con- 
clude by  some  observations  on  the  subject  of  foreign 
paupers  and  pauper  immigration. 

That  a  dependant  condition  is  not  necessarily  one 
of  degradation,  when  we  reflect  on  the  infancy,  sick 
ness  and  old  age  of  our  race,  is  sufficiently  obvious. 
Cradled  in  dependence,  we  are  liable  to  relapse  in 


204 


PAUPERISM. 


our  most  vigorous  manhood  into  a  similar  state ;  and 
if  this  calamity  is  averted,  we  must  look  forward  at 
least  to  an  impotent  old  age.  Selfish  in  his  nature, 
man  requires  these  strong  incentives  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  his  kindlier  feelings  to  prevent  interest  and 
self-gratification  absorbing  his  affections.  Thus  from 
the  weakness  incident  to  our  physical  structure, 
spring  the  strongest  ties  which  unite  man  to  his  fel- 
low ;  and  from  the  stoic  of  the  woods,  he  becomes 
the  sympathizing  and  compassionate  friend  of  sor- 
row. 

If  we  regard  man  inhis  animal  wants,  it  were  easy 
to  see  the  workings  of  this  sympathy — this  infection 
of  the  sympathetic  chords  of  our  nature.  Pain  ex- 
cites pain — pleasure  calls  forth  pleasure,  unless  cir- 
cumstances of  excitement  or  enthusiasm  may  tem- 
porarily chill  the  affections  of  the  human  breast ;  and 
to  this  natural  impulse  we  must  attribute  the  action 
of  our  sensitive  and  commiserating  feelings.  Local 
prejudices  and  habits  may  -overcome  this  natural 
sympathy,  and  the  Athenian  mother  might,  without  a 
pang,  expose  her  sickly  child,  or  the  callous  Inquisi- 
tor might,  unmoved,  contemplate  the  sufferings  he  in- 
flicted, and  the  artificial  composition  of  modern  socie- 
ty may  exclude,  in  its  selfish  policy,  the  sufferings 
of  its  inferior  classes  from  the  sympathy  of  the 
higher.  These  are,  however,  only  exceptions  to  the 
laws  of  humanity  which  have  emplanted  a  natural 
sympathy  between  man  and  the  rest  of  creation.  But 
it  is  when  we  look  at  man  as  a  moral,  intellectual  and 
immortal  being,  that  the  law  of  sympathy  becomes 
merged  in  one  of  comprehensive  charity.  We  know 
that  the  feelings  which  excite  our  bosom  animate 


PAUPERISM.  205 

his ;  that  the  same  fears  and  same  joys,  the  same  ap- 
prehensions and  the  same  hopes,  are  his,  and  that 
however  urgent  the  wants,  or  acute  the  sufferings,  of 
his  physical  nature  may  be,  that  his  intellectual 
and  moral  condition  also  requires  a  solace  peculiar 
to  itself.  "  The  truth  is,  that  man  is  not  like  the 
beast  that  perish, — a  mere  animal,  to  propagate 
upon  food  like  the  flocks  and  herds.  It  is  only  when 
sunk  by  the  vicious  institutions  of  society  to  the  situ- 
ation of  a  mere  animal,  that  he  puts  on  the  conditions 
of  a  brutal  nature.  In  proportion  as  his  intellectual 
and  moral  nature,  his  only  true  nature,  is  cultivated 
and  called  out,  he  becomes,  we  will  not  say  some- 
thing different  from  an  animal,  but  certainly  some- 
thing besides  an  animal.  He  awakens  to  an  exis- 
tence which  corn  does  not  feed,  and  which  famine 
does  not  starve.  A  moral  and  spiritual  life  grows  up 
within  him,  with  its  own  principles  of  growth,  of 
nourishment,  and  decline.  In  proportion  to  this 
growth  of  another  life  to  the  delicacy,  elevation,  and 
purity  of  the  new  existence,  which  the  Son  of  Hea- 
ven has  put  on,  will  be  the  influence  of  the  remaining 
mere  animal  nature,  and  the  degree  to  which  it  will 
govern  and  determine  his  progress."*  In  this  elo- 
quent vindication  of  the  dignity  of  man,  we  learn  to 
discover  the  higher  ends  of  charity,  which,  by  culti- 
vating the  finer  affections,  calls  out  the  inherent  prin- 
ciples of  man's  divine  nature. 

But  when  the  cold  and  calculating  creed  of  Mal- 
thus,  measuring  with  an  iron  rule  the  limits  of  our 
race,  and  venturing  to  starve  it  into  subjection  is  con- 
sidered, how  inconceivably  more  enlightened  and 

*  North  American  Review,  vol.  viii.,  305  p. 


20:5  PAUPERISM. 

humane  are  the  principles  inculcated  by  Christianity. 
The  political  inquirer  there  learns  that  man  has  other 
than  a  political  race  to  run  ;  he  may  form  part  of  a 
community,  and  in  his  turn  add  to  its  wealth,  or  hang 
listlessly  upon  its  charities,  but  at  the  same  time  he 
is  undergoing  a  severer  ordeal  than  any  to  which  this 
life  as  relates  to  his  animal  wants,  can  expose  him ; 
he  is  gradually  elevating  his  mind  to  an  enjoyment 
of  the  glories  of  revelation,  or  debasing  his  spiritual 
nature  into  a  state  of  callous  indifference  to,  or  posi- 
tive alienation  from,  its  eternal  happiness.  Admiring 
as  we  do  a  great  part  of  Mr.  Malthus'  essay, 
and  agreeing  with  the  propriety  of  opposing  re- 
straints rather  than  promoting  the  increase  of  the 
population  of  European  countries,  we  can  realize  the 
heartless  nature  of  his  philosophy,  only  when  applied 
to  the  actual  misery  around  us.  There  we  are  con- 
strained to  admit  the  hand  of  a  superintending  Provi- 
dence, against  whose  dealings  with  our  race  it  were 
vain  for  human  restrictions  to  strive,  and  we  believe 
that  poverty  and  wretchedness  are  the  necessary  re- 
sults of  the  unalterable  condition  of  man,  and  arise 
from  the  physical  laws  of  our  planet,  when  united 
with  the  sentence  "  in  the  sweat  of  thy  brow  shalt 
thou  eat  bread  till  thou  return  to  the  ground." 

With  such  general  views,  let  us  consider  the  effect 
of  private  and  of  public  charity  upon  the  recipient 
as  they  differ  in  their  character,  and  in  the  effect  they 
exercise  upon  both  the  donor  and  receiver.  In  the 
former  it  is  always  considered  in  the  light  of  a  gra- 
tuity, and  as  a  token  of  sympathy.  Private  charity, 
as  far  as  it  can  be  extended,  is  the  best  mode  of  re- 
lieving the  poor,  as  it  cultivates,  while  it  gratifies,  the 


PAUPERISM.  207 

benevolence  of  the  giver,  and  induces  gratitude  on 
the  part  of  the  recipient.  The  claim  which  a  sufferer 
has  upon  the  sympathy  of  another,  which  the  poor 
man  has  on  the  liberality  of  the  rich,  and  the  sick 
man  upon  the  assistance  of  his  neighbour  in  health, 
is  of  an  elevated  and  beautiful  character.  It  cannot 
be  determined  and  regulated  by  any  known  standard, 
but  is  a  Christian  law  of  universal  application,  which 
embraces  in  its  wide  extent  the  whole  human  race. 

Public  charity,  on  the  other  hand,  arises  from 
different  motives,  excites  different  feelings  on  the  part 
both  of  the  distributors  of  it,  and  of  those  who  re- 
ceive it,  and  can  never  be  prompted  by  the  same 
elevated  feelings.  It  is  from  a  desire  to  be  spared 
the  painfulness  of  the  exposure  of  .the  misery  of 
others,  that  the  public  consent  to  be  taxed  for  their 
support,  and  wherever  a  general  system  of  provision 
for  the  poor  exists,  it  must  carefully  be  guarded  from 
abuse.  Whenever  a  maintenance  at  public  expense 
is  viewed  as  a  right,  it  becomes  necessary  to  limit 
that  right  by  certain  restrictions,  and  as  in  this  coun- 
try, following  the  English  law,  vagrancy  is  generally 
considered  a  crime,  it  becomes  proper  to  consider  the 
circumstances  which  give  the  pauper  a  right  to  de- 
mand an  aliment  from  the  public. 

Before  briefly  enumerating  the  circumstances  which 
give  a  right  to  relief,  it  were  well  to  remark  on  the 
peculiar  condition  of  this  country,  where  wages  are 
high,  labour  in  demand,  and  provisions  and  the 
necessaries  of  life  are  cheap.  There  is  therefore,  no 
excuse  for  any  able  bodied  man  demanding  aid,  what- 
ever maybe  the  nature  of  his  occupation,  or  the  ex- 
isting condition  of  trade.  If  provident  during  the 


208  PAUPERISM. 

times  of  general  activity,  he  may  save  a  sufficiency 
against  the  time  of  depression,  and  always  find  some 
kind  of  employment  in  which  he  can  provide  for  his 
own  support.  Unfortunately,  however,  from  a  mis- 
taken policy,  the  laws  of  many  States  have  been  too 
similar  to  those  prevailing  in  England,  and  support 
is  too  often  given  to  the  indigent  and  needy,  instead 
of  being  reserved  for  the  disabled  and  infirm.  And 
let  us  beware  of  planting  in  the  soil  a  weed  which 
may  in  time  check  the  growth  of  more  healthful 
vegetation,  and  let  not  a  mistaken  charity  foster  the 
seeds  of  a  system  which  may  in  time  taint  every 
thing  in  its  neighbourhood.  The  burden  at  present, 
falls  lightly  upon  the  American  citizen,  but  it  is  much 
to  be  feared  that  ere  long,  it  will  make  a  sensible  im- 
pression, and  unless  a  new  system  of  arrangement 
be  introduced,  the  gigantic  and  oppressive  system  of 
the  English  poor  laws,  may  imperceptibly  obtain  a 
footing  in  many  of  the  states. 

The  Revised  Statutes  of  the  State  of  New- York, 
provide  that  "  every  poor  person,  who  is  blind,  lame, 
old,  sick,  impotent,  or  decrepit,  or  in  any  other  way 
disabled,  or  enfeebled,  so  as  to  be  unable  by  his 
work  to  maintain  himself,  shall  be  maintained  by 
the  county  or  town  in  which  he  may  be"  which 
would  seem  to  embrace  all  those  who  deserve  public 
support,  without  including  any  who  should  be  denied 
it.  In  assisting  the  blind,  lame  and  mutes,  such 
allowance  only  ought  to  be  granted  them,  as  will 
place  their  labour  on  the  same  footing  with  that  of 
any  ordinary  tradesman ;  and  an  allowance  which 
does  not  require  additional  exertion,  should  never  be 
awarded,  when  the  object  of  the  charity  can  procure 


PAUPERISM. 


209 


anything  by  his  o.wn  labour.  The  insane  poor,  of 
course  require  a  complete  maintenance,  and  the 
number  of  these  in  the  United  States  is  considerable. 
Below,  we  append  a  condensed  account  of  the  num- 
ber of  insane  in  the  State  of  New-York,  extracted 
from  a  report  made  to  the  legislature  in  1838,  and 
taking  the  estimate  of  the  proportion  of  idiots  and 
lunatics  in  that  state  as  a  criterion,  we  may  conclude 
that  there  are  upwards  of  16,000  insane  in  the  United 
States.*  The  assistance  which  the  sick  and  aged 
are  to  procure  from  the  public  should  be  administered 

*  The  whole  number  of  lunatics  in  this  State,  in  1835,  was  967,  and  the  whole 
number  of  idiots,  1,484.  Both  those  classes  in  the  Statistics  of  Insanity,  come 
under  the  general  head  of  insane  persons.  A  comparison  of  the  number  of  these 
two  classes  with  the  whole  population  of  the  State,  in  the  two  years  of  the 
State  census,  1825  and  1835,  gives  the  following  result: 

1825.  1835. 

Proportion  of  lunatics  to  population,  1  to  1,974        1  to  2,249 

"  "  idiots,  •:.",."/•"  1  to  1,138         1  to  1,465 

"  "  both  classes,       "  1  to     721         1  to      887 

During  these  10  years,  the  lunatics  increased  at  the  rate  of  18  per  cent,  and 
the  idiots  at  tho  rate  of  4  1-2  per  cent.,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  perceive  that 
both  classes  increased  in  a  ratio  less  than  the  population.  It  is  also  not  the  less 
gratifying  to  know  that  Providence  has  not  allotted  to  us  a  larger  share  of  this 
greatest  of  all  afflictions,  to  which  the  human  race  is  subject,  than  that  which 
has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  most  of  the  countries  of  Europe. 

It  has  been  stated,  in  recent  publications,  that  the  proportion  of  the  insane  to 
the  population  in  the  United  States  is  1  to  262.  This  statement,  which  first 
appeared  in  a  work  published  at  Hartford,  is  not  founded  on  authentic  data  re- 
garding a  single  state,  and,  so  far  as  New  York  is  concerned,  ii  is  entirely  at 
variance  with  the  results  of  examinations  made  by  public  authority.  From 
some  informal  estimate  of  the  number  of  insane  in  Connecticut,  the  number  con- 
sidered as  exhibiting  the  amount  of  insane  in  the  whole  country  was  determined, 
but  it  would  seem  to  be  without  the  least  authority.  Mr.  Browne,  in  a  series  of 
lectures  before  the  Montrose  Royal  Lunatic  Asylum,  assumes  the  correctness  of 
this  estimate,  and  proceeds  to  account  for  the  amount  of  insanity  prevalent  here 
by  the  free  use  of  ardent  spirits,  the  desire  of  the  rapid  acquisition  of  wealth  and 
the  intenseness  of  political  feeling.  Till  his  facts  are  established,  it  were  need- 
less to  refute  his  conclusions.* 

*  See  Assembly  Documents,  Albany,  1837. 

27 


210  PAUPERISM. 

with  a  very  sparing  hand,  and  thus  every  inducement 
given  to  the  labourer  to  provide  for  the  contingencies 
of  sickness  or  the  necessities  of  age. 

It  may  appear  an  iron-hearted  policy  to  sustain 
the  existence  of  the  indigent,  without  providing  for 
their  comfortable  subsistence  at  the  same  time,  but 
the  exigencies  of  the  present  constitution  of  society 
require  that  public  charity  should  promote,  not  dis- 
pense with  economical  habits,  and  that  the  industrious 
citizen,  who  provided  for  old  age,  by  the  savings  of 
his  hard-earned  gains,  should  be  more  comfortable 
than  the  thriftless  labourer,  who  throws  himself  upon 
public  charity,  as  he  advances  in  years.  The  assist- 
ance given,  therefore,  to  the  aged,  and  the  tempora- 
rily sick,  should  be  cautiously,  even  grudgingly  dis- 
pensed; on  the  other  hand,  those  among  us  whom 
unforeseen  accident,  or  natural  imbecility,  have  re- 
duced to  a  dependant  condition,  should  be  suitably 
and  comfortably  maintained,  as  no  indulgence  ex- 
tended to  them  could  militate  against  the  active 
labourer.  Widows,  with  large  families,  and  orphan 
children  come  under  another  class.  It  is  then  the 
interest  and  best  policy  of  the  state  to  take  the  guar- 
dianship of  such  children  under  its  peculiar  care,  as 
the  education  they  are  likely  to  receive  at  home 
would  not  be  calculated  to  make  them  good  members 
of  society.  The  relief  these  obtain  is  not,  therefore, 
to  be  looked  upon  as  a  right,  unless  both  parents 
being  dead,  they  are  left  destitute,  but  as  a  matter 
of  expediency,  which  may  be  defended  upon  different 
grounds. 

But  while  the  persons  above  referred  to  have  a 
just  claim  upon  the  public  for  total  or  partial  main- 


PAUPERISM.  211 

tenaiice,  such  is  by  no  means  the  case  regarding 
able  bodied  men,  and  persons  with  large  families. 
It  is  the  introduction  of  these  claims  which  has 
caused  so  much  increase  in  the  English  poor  rates, 
and  there  is  but  one  opinion  regarding  the  magnitude 
of  the  evils  which  they  have  brought  on.  At  first  the 
sums  raised  were  moderate,  but  they  have  uniformly 
increased ;  and  of  late  years  this  increase  has  been 
rapid,  and  they  now  amount  to  upwards  of  $38,- 
720,000  annually,  notwithstanding  which,  the  object 
aimed  at,  the  relief  of  the  poor,  is  very  imperfectly 
attained.* 

We  have  already  remarked  upon  the  danger  of 
permitting  the  system  of  England,  which  now  she  is 
attempting  to  shake  off,  from  becoming  incorporated 
with  the  practical  working  of  the  poor  laws  of  this 
country,  and  certainly  there  are  some  grounds  for 
apprehending  that  such  may  one  day  be  the  case. 

It  is  difficult  to  arrive  at  any  detailed  information 
regarding  the  present  extent  of  pauperism  in  Ame- 
rica, the  facts  not  being  collected  in  any  document 
with  which  we  are  acquainted,  but  the  few  instances 
which  we  shall  quote,  may  be  sufficient  to  show,  that 
a  dread  of  the  growth  of  pauperism  is  not  an  idle 
dream. 

In  the  state  of  New  York,  in  1837 — exclusive  of 
New  York  City,  the  number  of  inhabitants  being 
1,904,428  in  1835 — the  number  of  persons  supported 
in  the  Alms  Houses,  was  51,266,  being  1  pauper  for 
every  86,102  inhabitants. 

In  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  in  1837 — the  num- 

•  On  the  Management  of  the  Poor,  by  Dr.  Hamilton — 1822. 


212 


PAUPERISM. 


ber  of  inhabitants  of  the  towns  reported,  being  422,- 
974  in  1830 — the  number  of  persons  assisted  was 
5,580,  being  1  pauper  for  every  75,80  inhabitants. 

In  the  state  of  Virginia,  in  1838 — the  number  of 
paupers  was  computed  to  be  2,500,  being  1  pauper 
to  every  274  inhabitants. 

In  France,  in  1817 — the  Count  Laborde  estimates 
the  number,  as  1  pauper  to  every  35  inhabitants. 

In  the  city  of  New  York — the  population  in  1835 
being  270,089,  the  aggregate  number  of  persons 
supported  at  the  Aims-House,  and  families  assisted 
by  out-door  relief,  amounted  to  29,264. 

In  the  city  of  Glasgow — where  the  population  in 
1831  was  202,426,  and  where  immigration  from  Ire- 
land increases  the  poor  roll  to  a  great  extent,  there 
was  1  pauper  to  every  41,43  persons. 

In  Boston,  in  1836,  there  was  1  pauper  to  every 
49  inhabitants. 

In  Philadelphia,  the  same  year,  there  was  1  pau- 
per to  every  68  inhabitants. 

These  few  statements,  obtained  from  the  reports 
to  the  respective  legislatures,  and  other  authentic 
sources,  which  might,  if  necessary,  be  made  more 
extended,  show  but  too  clearly  the  footing  which 
this  lamentable  system  is  obtaining  in  this  country. 
In  many  of  the  states,  on  the  other  hand,  we  do  not 
believe  that  it  is  possible  to  obtain  information,  on 
the  subject,  as  the  poor  are  provided  for  by  each 
separate  township,  as  is  the  case  in  New- Jersey, 
and  no  general  report  is  presented  to  the  State  Le- 
gislature. 

The  question,  therefore,  assumes  a  magnitude, 
when  considered  in  the  aggregate,  which  well  de- 


PAUPERISM.  213 

mands  the  attention  of  Congress.  In  the  heart  of  a 
thriving  and  industrious  people,  we  do  not  hesitate  to 
assert,  that  there  were  in  1837,  one  hundred  thou- 
sand persons  living  upon,  or  partially  supported  by 
public  charity,  and  this  too  generally  administered 
as  a  right,  and,  by  consequence,  in  a  way  most  calcu- 
lated to  sap  the  foundations  of  society.  If  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  question  were  fairly  appreciated,  there 
would  no  doubt  be  some  means  adopted  to  lead  to 
the  amelioration  of  the  system,  and  Massachusetts 
has  lately  attempted  such  a  reformation  in  the  pro- 
hibition of  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  by  retail.  But 
whatever  may  be  the  means  which  may  ultimately 
be  adopted,  there  cannot  be  a  question,  that  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  evil  should  be  ascertained,  and  the 
causes  which  engender  such  vast  amount  of  destitu- 
tion among  the  inhabitants  at  large,  should  be  accu- 
rately examined  and  exposed. 

It  is  to  immigration  that  many  are  inclined,  and  per- 
haps with  truth,  to  attribute  the  increase  of  pauper- 
ism ;  but  as  far  as  our  information  will  warrant  us  to 
go,  we  are  not  prepared  to  admit  the  correctness  of 
this  opinion  in  its  fullest  extent.  That  the  number 
of  foreigners  in  needy  circumstances,  who  crowd  to 
these  shores,  is  great,  we  are  aware,  and  in  another 
article  we  have  fully  alluded  to  the  "subject;  but  that 
it  is  so  great  as  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  the  ex- 
tent of  pauperism  is  to  be  traced  wholly  to  this  source 
we  cannot  suppose. 

1836  the  foreign  paupers  in  Phil,  were  to  the  natives    as    1.  to  1.11 

1836  «         "         «         "  Boston  "     "  "  "     1.  to  0.87 

1837  «         «         «         "  New- York,  {St^Md}«  «     1.  to  7.07 


214 


PAUPERISM. 


The  number  of  families  who  received  out-door  re- 
lief in  1838,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  was  15,448; 
many  of  these  wrere  relieved  every  week  during  the 
winter,  and  a  small  portion  every  week  during  the 
year.  About  oiie-ffith  only  are  natives.  The  whole 
number  of  persons  estimated  as  relieved,  or  support- 
ed in  the  Aims-House,  including  the  above,  is  80,699, 
(estimating  the  families  as  consisting  of  five  persons 
each,)  of  whom  59,522  are  foreigners.*  There  are, 
however,  not  more  than  200,000  native  Americans  in 
the  city ;  and  this  would  make  every  tenth  an  appli- 
cant for  charity. 

Again,  in  reference  to  the  commitments  for  crimes 
of  a  minor  description,  to  the  city  penitentiary,  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  of  New-York  report  the  following 
table : 

1827  there  were  committed  in  all   682,  of  whom   186   foreigners. 


1828  « 

1829  « 

1830  « 

1831  « 


«  «  915  " 

«  «  1,001  " 

«  «  1,262  " 

'«  "  1,348  « 


220 
225 
286 
340 


or,  on  an  average,  rather  less  than  one-fourth. 

We  are  well  aware  that  such  limited  informa- 
tion is  of  no  statistical  value  ;  but  we  quote  it  to 
show  that  the  number  of  paupers  in  this  country  is 
not  wholly  to  be  attributed  to  the  number  of  foreign 
immigrants,  and  that  deeper  and  more  accurate  in- 
quiry must  be  instituted  before  the  causes  of  the 
present  condition  of  the  country  are  traced  to  their 
legitimate  source.  That  they  do  materially  increase 

*  We  are  aware  that  there  is  an  apparent  discrepancy  between  these  state- 
ments. The  former  we  procured  from  the  Treasurer's  Report  to  the  Legislature ; 
the  latter,  for  the  subsequent  year,  from  an  officer  of  the  Aims-House,  through 
the  kindness  of  a  member  of  the  Corporation. 


PAUPERISM.  215 

the  pauperism  of  the  land,  is  certain,  but  it  is  only 
just  to  the  native,  as  well  as  to  the  foreign  popula- 
tion, to  determine  the  proportion  which  these  bear 
to  each  other.  It  is  in  the  power  of  the  different 
States,  or  the  Municipal  Corporations,  to  pass  laws 
relative  to  the  importation  of  foreigners,  and  in  the 
city  of  New- York  such  laws  are  now  in  force.  Every 
captain  or  owner  of  a  vessel  has  to  enter  into  a  bond 
that  any  passenger  brought  to  the  country,  and 
landed  at  the  port  of  New- York,  shall  not  become  a 
burden  upon  the  community  for  the  term  of  2  years, 
or  it  is  in  his  power  to  commute  such  responsibility,  by 
paying  a  fixed  sum  for  all  his  passengers,  which  is 
generally  done.  In  1818  the  price  of  commutation 
was  $3  for  each  person,  and  was  reduced,  in  1827,  to 
$2  50,  and  further  reduced,  in  1830,  to  $1.  Such  a 
provision  is  just  and  equitable,  and  if,  on  examina- 
tion, it  is  found  that  the  weight  of  pauperism  which 
the  city  of  New-York  is  labouring  under,  is  to  be  at- 
tributed mainly  to  the  number  of  foreigners  settled 
there,  there  could  be  no  reason  why  such  restrictions 
should  not  be  placed  upon  immigration  as  would  pre- 
vent the  increase  of  the  evil. 

But  at  the  same  time,  the  true  source  of  the  pre- 
vailing pauperism  should  be  dispassionately  examin- 
ed, and  such  means  taken  to  induce  industrious  and 
economical  habits,  as  may  seem  to  be  expedient ; 
and  above  all,  the  honest  pride  of  the  citizen  to  de- 
cline resorting  to  public  support,  till  every  other  de- 
scription of  relief  fails,  should  be  stimulated;  and  the 
support  which  seems  to  be  administered  with  so  libe- 
ral a  hand  in  the  city  of  New- York  should  be  dealt 
out  with  greater  caution,  and  in  as  small  quantities  as 


216  PAUPERISM. 

the  bare  existence  of  its  poor  require.  The  facility 
with  which  a  large  portion  of  a  community  lapse  into 
a  state  of  dependence  is  but  too  fully  illustrated  by 
the  operation  of  the  English  poor  laws,  and  similar 
results  will,  in  either  country,  be  produced  by  similar 
causes. 

This  is  one  of  those  subjects  to  wrhich  we  have  re- 
ferred, when  speaking  of  the  care  requisite  in  framing 
the  schedules,  which  must  vary  according  to  the 
state  of  the  poor  laws  in  each  section.  It  is  also  a 
subject  which  will  not  require  to  be  examined  into  by 
every  returning  officer,  as  the  poor  are  more  general- 
ly supported  by  county  than  by  town  rates,  and 
therefore  the  returns  from  one  officer  in  each  county 
will  be  sufficient.  In  a  subsequent  chapter  we  pur- 
pose speaking  of  the  nature  of  the  duties  to  be  re- 
quired from  the  different  officers,  so  now  refer  our 
readers  to  the  general  remarks  on  that  subject. 

In  concluding  this  brief  notice  on  the  subject  of 
pauperism,  we  must  express  a  hope  that  the  full  ex- 
amination which  Government  may  institute  into  the 
number,  expense,  and  condition  of  the  poor,  will  show 
that  the  picture  which  we  have  drawn,  is  too  highly 
coloured,  and  that  a  temporary  depression,  which  has 
left  no  trace  behind  it,  was  the  occasion  of  the  amount 
of  poverty  in  the  years  to  which  we  have  referred. 


217 


EDUCATION. 

<:  THAT  which  makes  a  good  constitution  must  keep 
it,  namely  men  of  wisdom  and  virtue,  qualities  that 
because  they  descend  not  with  worldly  inheritance, 
must  be  carefully  propagated  by  a  virtuous  educa- 
tion." So  said  William  Penn,  in  his  Frame  of  Go- 
vernment, and  the  justice  of  the  observation  is  only 
now  fully  appreciated.  But  at  this  time,  after  a  long 
period  of  inaction,  the  public  mind  seems  awakened 
to  the  propriety  of  systematically  pursuing  the  great 
national  object  of  popular  education,  on  a  general 
diffusion  of  which  the  happiness,  as  well  as  the 
safety  of  modern  society  depends.  The  early  colo- 
nists in  New  England  set  the  example  of  establishing 
a  provision  at  public  expense  for  the  education  of 
the  community,  which  seems  never  to  have  been 
previously  attempted  in  Modern  Europe,*  Happily 
for  the  human  race,  however,  the  necessity  as  well 
as  the  duty  of  enabling  every  inhabitant  to  acquire 
the  elements  of  education,  has  gradually  been  more 
fully  appreciated,  and  in  this  country,  and  in  Europe, 
much  public  attention  is  attracted  to  the  various 
schemes  proposed  for  promoting  so  laudable  an  end. 
It  is  not  our  intention,  at  present,  to  enter  upon 
any  examination  of  what  the  means  taken  to  attain 

*  Livingston's  Introduction  to  the  Penal  Code  of  Louisiana. 

28 


218 


EDUCATION. 


a  general  system  of  education  should  be,  or  what  is 
the  most  legitimate  aim  of  such  a  system.  The  sub- 
ject is  one  which  embraces  so  many  topics,  and  con- 
cerns the  permanent  interests  of  society  so  pre-emi- 
nently, that  we  are  conscious  any  scattered  remarks 
we  might  make,  would  not  be  commensurate  with  the 
theme  :  leaving,  therefore,  to  other  and  mere  able 
pens  a  vindication  of  the  nobler  ends  of  education, 
which  regard  not  only  the  attainment  of  knowledge, 
but  the  purification  of  that  moral  atmosphere,  which 
every  where  surrounds  us ;  we  pass  on  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  existing  condition  of  Education  in 
this  country. 

One  great  impediment  to  improvement  is  the  ab- 
sence of  all  consciousness  of  its  necessity.  In  the 
common  affairs  of  life,  most  men  who  do  not  turn 
their  particular  attention  to  a  subject,  can  be  swayed 
by  the  statement  of  a  friend,  and  an  individual  by 
dwelling  on  a  partial  view  of  any  topic,  can  gene- 
rally convince  himself  of  its  truth,  even  in  opposition 
to  his  more  candid  judgment;  so  it  is  with  commu- 
nities, which  being  long  accustomed  to  hear  any 
particular  institution  lauded,  in  time  come  to  regard 
it  as  perfect,  and  any  project  of  improvement  as 
applied  to  it,  is  pronounced  to  be  a  dangerous  inno- 
vation. History  abounds  in  absurdities  of  this  kind, 
and  when  we  regard  the  subjects,  xvhich  so  mystified 
our  ancestors,  unveiled  and  exposed  to  candid  inquiry, 
we  are  struck  with  the  erroneousness  of  their  opi- 
nions, and  amazed  at  their  inconceivable  obtuseness. 
The  history  of  the  sinking  fund,  established  by  the 
British  Government,  and  so  universally  looked  to 
as  the  means  of  liquidating,  at  a  future  period,  the 


EDUCATION.  219 

accumulated  national  debt,  is  a  striking  instance  of 
national  blindness.  This  complacency  in  the  exist- 
ing institutions  of  a  country  is  one  of  the  evils  most 
difficult  to  eradicate,  when  it  refers  to  institutions  of 
doubtful  benefit,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  essential 
to  maintain,  when  it  regards  a  beneficial  arrangement. 
"  Mr.  Simpson,  in  remarking  upon  the  obstacles  to 
the  improvement  of  education  in  Scotland,  observes, 
*  the  habit,  now  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  old,  of 
lauding  the  Scottish  parochial  schools,  and  crediting 
them  with  all  the  intelligence  and  morality  which 
are  said,  to  an  extent  beyond  all  truth,  to  characterize 
the  manual  labour  class  of  our  countrymen,  has 
been,  and  is  yet,  an  obstacle  of  the  complacent  kind; 
a  prevailing  practical  belief,  that  if  schools,  de  facto, 
exist,  education  is  provided  for,  be  these  schools  and 
these  teachers  what  they  may,  is  an  obstacle  arising 
from  indifference  and  contentment.'  These  remarks 
may  as  justly  be  applied  to  the  free  schools  of  New 
England,  and  to  the  public  schools  of  the  United 
States  generally,  as  to  the  parochial  schools  of  Scot- 
land."* In  order  to  combat  this  impression,  and  to 
exhibit  impartially  the  state  of  education,  we  have 
prepared  the  following  abstract  of  the  state  of  the 
various  school  privileges  possessed  in  different  parts 
of  the  country.  To  the  student  in  these  matters, 
our  remarks  present  nothing  of  novelty,  being  con- 
densed from  the  Report  presented  by  Mr.  Crawfurd 
to  the  British  Parliament,  on  the  subject  of  Prison 
Discipline — to  which  an  Appendix  on  Education  is 
added  ;  but,  to  the  general  reader  it  may  serve 
to  exhibit  the  present  condition  of  education  in  this 

*  New  York  Review — vol.  iii.  159. 


220 


EDUCATION. 


country.  It  is  some  years  'since  this  report  was 
made,  and  much  has  been  done  by  the  friends  of 
education  in  the  meanwhile,  yet,  in  presenting  a 
view  of  the  state  of  the  country  four  years  ago,  we 
fear  we  give  too  accurate  a  picture  of  its  present 
condition. 


Massachusetts. — The  first  act  providing  for  public  education  in 
this  state  was  passed  in  1789.  This  act  was  repealed,  and  the 
existing  law  passed  in  1827^  which  states  that  "each  town  or 
district  containing  fifty  families  or  householders  shall  be  provided 
with  a  teacher  or  teachers,  of  good  morals,  to  instruct  children  in 
orthography,  reading,  writing,  English  grammar,  geography,  and 
arithmetic,  for  such  a  term  as  shall  be  equivalent  to  six  months  for 
one  school  in  each  year."  Corresponding  provisions  are  made 
where  the  number  of  inhabitants  amounts  to  100,  150  and  500 
families.  The  different  expenses  required  for  the  establishment  of 
common  schools,  to  be  raised  by  assessment,  as  other  town  taxes. 

The  result  of  this  law  will  appear  in  the  following  abstract  of  the 
school  returns  made  to  the  General  Court  in  1833,  from  £9  towns 
in  this  state.  At  this  period,  the  number  of  school  districts  was  791, 
and  the  amount  paid  for  public  instruction  $98,086.  The  aggre- 
gate time  of  keeping  schools  in  the  year,  estimated  in  months,  2586 
by  male  teachers,  and  3725  by  female  teachers. 

The  towns  from  which  returns  are  made  are  distributed  in  pretty 
equal  proportions  in  the  various  counties  of  the  state.  The  popula- 
tion of  these  towns,  in  1830,  was  201,681,  being  about  one-third  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  state. 

Towns,  305 

Cost  of  public  instruction,  $294,259 

Number  of  school  districts,  2,273 

Months  by  female  teachers,  7,758  ) 

,,     ,,     ,          ,    .       ,  71  ,„_  >  total,  18,933 

Months  by  male  teachers,  11,175  ^ 

Pupils  in  public  schools,  148,656 

Academies  and  private  schools,  1,185 

Pupils  in  academies  and  private  schools,  24,852 

Pay  of  teachers  in  do.         do.         do.  $243,883 

Number  between  14  and  21  \vho  caanot  read,  30 


EDUCATION,  221 

The  male  teachers  are  allowed  a  salary  of  from  10  to  25  dollars 
per  month  :  the  average  is  probably  about  $15.  Females  are  ge- 
nerally paid  by  the  week,  from  75  cents  to  $3  :  average  about  $1,25. 

Maine. — When  Maine  became  a  separate  state,  one  of  the  ear- 
liest measures  of  the  Legislature  was  an  improvement  of  the  system 
then  in  operation  for  the  support  of  common  schools.  It  is  now 
the  duty  of  the  assessor  to  assign  to  each  school  district  a  proportion 
of  the  money  annually  raised  in  each  year  for  the  support  of  com- 
mon  schools,  according  to  the  number  of  children  therein  between 
the  ages  of  4  and  21.  School-books  are  furnished  by  the  parents, 
but  if  unwilling  to  do  so,  are  provided  at  public  expense.  No 
alien  is  eligible  as  a  master ;  and  any  applicant  must  procure  a 
certificate  from  some  person  of  liberal  education,  literary  pursuits, 
and  good  moral  character,  residing  within  the  county,  that  he  is  "  a 
person  of  sober  life  and  conversation,  and  sustains  a  good  moral 
character." 

In  the  year  1825,  the  Legislature  required  a  report  from  each 
town  respecting  the  number  of  school  districts,  and  other  informa- 
tion, which  in  1826  was  reported  as  follows  : 

Number  of  school  districts,  2,499 

Number  of  persons  between  4  and  21,  137,831 

Number  who  usually  attend  school,  101,325 

Money  to  be  annually  raised,  $119,334 

Amount  actually  raised,  $132,263 
Total  expenditure,  taxes,  and  permanent  fund,    $137,878 

Average  monthly  wages  for  teachers,  $12,024 

Average  annual  expense  of  each  scholar,  $1  35 

The  aggregate  number  of  months  in  which  the  schools  were  open 
under  male  instructors  was  5161,  and  under  female  6285.  The 
whole  number  of  pupils  in  1833  has  been  estimated  at  140,000.  The 
proportion  of  scholars  to  the  whole  population  was  30  per  cent. 

New  Hampshire. — The  division  of  towns  into  school  districts 
renders  it  practicable  for  all  children  in  this  state  to  attend  schools, 
either  in  summer  or  winter.  In  1823,  the  number  of  school  districts 
was  1698,  and  of  school-houses  1560.  Of  the  former  there  are  at 
present  at  least  1732,  and  of  the  latter  1601.  Judging  from  the 
returns  received  from  a  number  of  towns  in  Merrirnack  county,  it 


222  EDUCATION. 

is  concluded  that  1  of  46  of  the  whole  population  annually  attend 
the  free  schools,  including  private  schools  and  academies,  and  1  in 
30  of  the  entire  population  attend  school  during  some  portion  of  the 
year.  The  course  of  instruction  in  this  state  is  very  complete. 

Vermont. — In  1824,  the  select-men  in  every  town  were  authorized 
to  assess  a  tax  of  two  cents  in  the  dollar  on  the  ratable  estate  of  the 
inhabitants,  for  school  purposes.  There  is  also  a  general  school 
fund,  and  there  are  several  restrictions  on  the  proper  application  of 
the  respective  funds.  The  number  of  school  districts  in  1831  was 
about  2400.  Taking  the  whole  number  of  persons  between  the  ages 
of  5  and  20  inclusive,  this  statement  would  show  about  43  scholars 
to  each  school  district.  It  is  supposed,  however,  that  the  average 
who  attend  school  is  less  than  30.  In  1832,  the  Legislature  made 
some  additional  provision  for  the  promotion  of  education. 

Connecticut. — By  the  sale  of  some  lands  in  the  west,  now  forming 
a  part  of  the  state  of  Ohio,  for  $1,200,000,  this  state  procured  a 
fund,  now  amounting  to  $1,700,000,  which  is  set  aside  for  the  pur- 
pose of  general  education.  A  system  sustained  by  funds  so  ample, 
might  be  expected  to  produce  extensive  results.  It  is,  however, 
remarkable,  that  the  state  of  education  is  not  more  advanced  than 
before  the  formation  of  this  fund.  The  means  of  education  had 
previously  been  so  excellent,  that  for  60  years  not  an  instance  had 
been  known  of  an  individual  appearing  before  a  court  of  justice 
who  could  not  write  his  name  ;  but  of  late  years,  there  have  been 
many  instances  of  gross  ignorance,  even  among  members  of  school 
committees ;  and  the  effect  of  the  fund  seems  to  have  been  to  ren- 
der parents  indifferent  to  the  education  of  their  children.  The  dif- 
ferent school  districts  do  not  raise  any  sums  to  aid  those  which 
they  receive  from  the  public  funds,  and  only  make  such  arrange- 
ments for  education  as  can  be  defrayed  by  that  fund.  The  whole 
number  of  pupils  who  attend  the  winter  schools  is  about  40  ;  the 
number  in  attendance  in  summer  is  much  less.  The  size  of  school- 
houses  is  much  too  small ;  they  are  badly  built  and  ill -lighted. 

Rhode  Island. — In  1828,  the  Legislature  appropriated  $10,000 
for  the  support  of  public  schools,  with  authority  to  each  town  to 
raise  by  tax  double  the  amount  of  its  proportion  of  that  sum.  The 


EDUCATION.  223 

inhabitants  in  all  the  towns  availed  themselves  of  this  law,  and  the 
number  of  schools  probably  now  exceeds  700. 

Every  child  of  a  suitable  age  is  freely  admitted  into  the  schools, 
and  all  are  taught  reading,  writing,  and  the  elements  of  mathema- 
tics, and  the  elder  scholars  grammar  and  geography.  The  teachers, 
who  are  usually  under-graduates  of  the  colleges,  receive  from  $15 
to  $30  a  month,  and  their  board.  The  salary  of  the  female  teach- 
ers is  about  8200  per  annum. 

There  are  no  returns  in  detail  from  this  state,  which,  from  the 
elevated  character  of  the  common  school  education,  is  much  to  be 
regretted. 

New-  York.—  The  school-system  in  this  state  is  generally  known, 
and  the  detail  necessary  for  a  full  exposition  of  it  obliges  us  to  limit 
the  notice  to  the  following  short  statement. — In  1834,  there  were 
9,690  school  districts,  in  the  state,  and  reports  were  received  from 
9,107.  At  the  close  of  1832,  there  were  522,618  children,  between 
5  and  16  years  of  age,  residing  in  the  several  school  districts,  from 
which  reports  had  been  received,  and  512,475  were  taught  in  those 
districts  during  that  year.  These  attended  school,  on  an  average, 
for  a  period  of  eight  months. 

In  addition  to  this  ample  public  provision,  the  city  of  New  York 
is  under  the  special  management  of  a  public  school  society,  which 
has  ably  discharged  its  duty  to  the  state;  and  all  portions  of  the 
population  have  an  opportunity  of  benefitting  by  the  means  so  amply 
afforded. 

New-Jersey. — The  state  of  New-Jersey  has  been  very  remiss  in 
establishing  any  general  system  of  public  instruction,  and  in  1828, 
a  report  was  made,  which  states,  that  there  are  11,742  children, 
entirely  destitute  of  elementary  education,  and  about  15,000  adults, 
unable  to  read.  Last  year,  (1838,)  however,  considerable  exertion 
was  made  to  arouse  the  attention  of  the  people,  and  although  with- 
out any  means  of  judging  of  the  effect  of  the  measures  then  adopted, 
we  hope  that  they  may  prove  serviceable. 

Pennsylvania. — The  first  law  which  was  passed  for  the  further- 
ance of  general  education,  was  in  1809,  which,  however,  in  1830, 
still  remained  a  dead  letter ;  and,  in  that  year,  the  Pennsylvania 


224  EDUCATION. 

society  for  the  promotion  of  public  schools,  declares,  "  that  there 
are  at  least  400,000  children  in  the  state,  between  5  and  15,  and  of 
these,  there  were  not  150,000  in  all  the  schools  in  the  state.  In 
1833,  a  report  which  accompanied  a  draught  of  a  new  bill  on  the 
subject,  alleges,  that  the  number  of  voters,  unable  to  read,  in  this 
state,  may  be  computed  at  10,000,  and  that  2,500  persons  become 
voters  annually,  who  are  equally  ignorant ;  and  assuming  the  cen- 
sus of  1830  as  the  basis,  they  say,  "we  have  635,849  under  20 
years  of  age,  between  400,000  and  500,000  of  these  are,  by  the 
constitution,  placed  under  the  guardianship  of  the  legislature— of 
these,  by  official  returns  made  last  year  to  the  secretary  of  the  com- 
monwealth, only  17,462  are  now  receiving  (and  that  nominally, 
perhaps)  instruction  gratis." 

It  is  gratifying  to  think  that  a  new  general  law  has  been  passed 
appointing  a  common  school  system,  with  a  superintendent  whose 
sole  occupation  consists  in  directing  and  controlling  the  public 
schools.  There  is,  as  might  be  expected,  great  difficulty  experi- 
enced in  procuring  suitable  teachers,  and  it  is  proposed  to  train 
such  in  the  grammar-schools  and  colleges  now  existing. 

Maryland. — The  amount  of  the  public  funds  for  the  support  of 
common  schools,  in  1831,  was  $142,063.  No  general  returns  have 
been  procured  from  this  state,  but  it  would  seem,  that  while  some 
sections  are  advancing  rapidly  in  the  education  of  youth,  the  greater 
number  are  very  remiss,  and  the  population  generally  is  poorly 
supplied  with  the  means  of  instruction. 

Ohio. — In  1831,  the  legislature  of  this  state  took  measures  to 
introduce  a  general  system  of  education,  but  great  prejudice  pre- 
vailed in  some  parts  of  the  country  against  it,  and  sufficient  returns 
do  not  exist  to  enable  us  to  determine  the  benefit  which  has  followed 
from  it.  It  seems  difficult  to  procure  a  sufficient  remuneration  in 
a  state  where  the  wages  of  all  classes  of  labourers  are  extremely 
high,  and  till  this  be  overcome,  but  little  can  be  expected  from  any 
legal  enactment.  In  1836,  Professor  C.  E.  Stowe  was  requested  to 
make  a  report  on  the  existing  systems  of  education  in  Europe,  to 
the  legislature  of  this  state,  which  he  presented  in  December,  1837, 
and  it  shows  that  in  selecting  and  authorizing  such  an  agent  to 
submit  a  report  on  the  subject,  the  state  legislature  entertained  en- 


EDUCATION.  225 

lightened  views  of  their  duty  and  obligation  to  advance  the  inte- 
rests  of  public  institutions. 

Illinois. — A  thirty-sixth  part  of  each  township  is  granted  by  the 
United  States  Government  for  the  support  of  schools  in  this  state, 
also  a  fund  arising  from  3  per  cent,  on  the  nett  proceeds  of  the 
United  States  lands  within  this  state,  is  appropriated  to  the  encou- 
ragement of  learning. 

In  1831,  this  state  contained  about  47,895  inhabitants,  between 
4  and  16  years  of  age.  It  was  then  ascertained,  that  the  whole 
number  of  children  who  attended  school  for  one  quarter  or  less 
portion  of  the  year,  was  only  12,000,  or  about  one-fourth  of  those 
who  were  of  a  suitable  age  to  be  at  school.  There  then  existed 
about  560  schools,  and  the  average  number  in  each  amounted  to 
about  22. 

In  1833,  the  legislature  passed  a  law  authorizing  the  formation 
of  school  districts,  and  as  the  principle  upon  which  the  remunera- 
tion of  the  teacher  depends  is  novel,  much  interest  will  attach  to 
accurate  returns  of  its  operation. 

Kentucky. — It  does  not  appear  that  any  measure  has  been  adopted 
by  the  legislature,  for  the  introduction  of  a  system  of  education 
into  this  state,  and  the  consequences  may  easily  be  imagined.  In 
1830,  the  number  of  children,  between  5  and  15,  were  143,738, 
and  of  these,  103,337  were  attending  no  school — upwards  of  five- 
sevenths. 

Tennessee,  is  in  much  the  same  condition, — 160,000  youths  being 
destitute  of  the  means  of  education. 

Virginia. — This  state,  in  1816,  appropriated  a  large  fund  for  the 
establishment  of  a  system  of  instruction  for  the  highest  as  well  as 
the  lowest  classes,  a  permanent  appropriation  of  $45,000  a  year 
was  made  for  the  education  of  the  poor,  and  $15,000  for  the  erec- 
tion and  support  of  a  University.  This  law  was  subsequently 
modified  in  1829,  and  it  is  thought  that  the  system  now  existing 
may  produce  very  beneficial  results.  "Considering,"  says  Mr. 
Crawfurd,  "  that  the  system  is  of  recent  date,  it  cannot  be  denied 
but  the  results  are  beneficial,  and  give  rise  to  the  expectation,  that 
29 


226  EDUCATION. 

in  the  course  of  another  period  of  15  or  20  years,  all  the  poor  chil- 
dren in  Virginia  will  enjoy  the  benefit  of  instruction." 

The  amount  of  information  regarding  the  other  states  in  the 
Union  is  such,  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  report  them  separately,  and 
therefore  we  conclude  this  summary  with  the  following  statement 
of  the  aggregate  results ;  in  the  New  England  States,  there  are  not 
less  than  500,000  children  educated  at  the  common  schools,  and  in 
1830,  there  were  473,508  white  persons  in  those  states,  between  the 
ages  of  5  and  15,  and  allowing  for  the  increase  of  population,  we 
may  say  that  the  benefits  of  elementary  education  are  universally 
diffused. 

In  the  states  to  the  south  and  west  of  New-York,  however,  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  there  were  1,210,000  children  without  the 
benefits  of  education. 

We  believe  that  this  account  presents  a  candid  and 
dispassionate  picture  of  the  condition  of  education 
in  the  country,  in  1534;  to  what  extent  it  has  been 
changed  and  improved  in  the  interval,  we  have  not 
the  means  of  determining,  but  we  hope  and  believe, 
that  the  condition  of  several  of  the  states  is  greatly 
ameliorated.  It  must  be  remembered,  that  any 
system  of  public  education  is  of  slow  growth,  and 
that  when  so  much  destitution  prevailed  in  1834,  in 
1839  the  extent  of  ignorance  which  we  have  to  la- 
ment must  yet  be  great.  But  on  the  other  hand,  the 
exhibition  of  the  progress  of  instruction  in  some  of 
the  states  is  peculiarly  gratifying;  to  find  that  only 
30  persons  in  Massachusetts  between  the  ages  of  14 
and  21,  cannot  read,  and  that  in  Rhode  Island,  the 
teachers  are  principally  under-graduates  of  a  uni- 
versity, are  facts  which  it  is  pleasant  to  record,  and 
may  the  day  soon  come  when  a  similar  description 
may  be  applicable  to  the  whole  of  the  country.  If 


EDUCATION.  227 

the  nation,  instead  of  recurring  to  the  condition  of 
the  states  to  the  east  of  the  Delaware,  as  a  specimen 
of  the  actual  state  of  education,  were  to  appreciate 
fully  the  destitution  of  the  other  sections  of  the 
country,  there  would  be  more  ground  for  anticipating 
an  enlarged  view  of  the  necessities  of  extended  edu- 
cation, and  a  juster  conception  of  what  it  really  con- 
sists in — a  public  system  of  education  suited  to  the 
wants  of  the  community,  should  prepare  each  citizen 
to  perform  the  various  duties  which  his  several  rela- 
tions in  society  impose  upon  him.  "  The  proper 
object  of  education  is  a  thorough  development  of  all 
the  intellectual  and  moral  powers ;  the  awakening 
and  calling  forth  of  every  talent  that  may  exist  even 
in  the  remotest  and  obscurest  corner,  and  giving  it  a 
useful  direction.  A  system  that  will  do  this,  and 
such  a  system  only,  do  I  consider  adequate  to  the 
wants  of  our  population.  Such  a  system,  and  such 
a  system  only,  can  avert  all  the  evils,  and  produce 
all  the  benefits  which  our  common  schools  are  de- 
signed to  produce.  True,  such  a  system  must  be  far 
more  extensive  and  complete  than  any  now  in  ope- 
ration, teachers  must  be  more  numerous,  skilful, 
persevering  and  self-denying;  parents  must  take 
greater  interest  in  the  schools,  and  do  more  for  their 
support;  and  the  children  must  attend  punctually 
and  regularly,  till  the  whole  prescribed  course  is  com- 
pleted. All  this  can  be  done,  and  I  hope  will  be 
done."* 

And  when  so  much  is  done  in  the  several  states 
for  the  promotion  of  this  good  end,  and  so  many 

*  Report  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  Dec.  19,  1837. 


228  EDUCATION. 

active  labourers  are  in  the  field,  stimulating  and 
directing  public  attention  to  the  subject,  ought 
the  General  Government  to  withhold  the  stimulus, 
which  a  simple  inquiry  into  the  condition  of  the 
country,  would  afford.  If  a  full  exhibition  of  the 
present  destitution  in  some  states,  and  of  the  provi- 
sions for  the  education  of  all  the  inhabitants,  in 
others,  would  arouse  the  nation  at  large  to  more 
active  exertions,  either  to  extend  or  perpetuate  the 
blessings  of -education,  it  were  surely  a  proper  subject 
of  inquiry  in  a  government  based  upon  the  popular 
voice  and  sentiment  of  the  community. 

We  do  not  propose  suggesting  the  forms  which  the 
returns  on  this  subject  should  assume,  as  there  are 
two  modes,  which  each  present  some  advantages. 
The  one  is  a  direct  inquiry  into  the  number  of  per- 
sons upwards  of  10  years  of  age,  who  can  read; 
the  other,  a  return  to  be  made  out  by  the  assistant  of 
the  actual  condition  of  education  in  his  district  The 
one  would  be  more  easily  complied  with,  and  perhaps 
present  a  more  correct  picture  of  the  present  state  of 
the  country ;  the  other  would  be  much  the  most  satis- 
factory, as  it  would  exhibit  the  present  condition  of 
education ;  and  perhaps,  if  the  two  modes  were 
united,  the  former  enumeration  confined  to  persons  up- 
wards of  15,  and  the  latter  to  those  under  that  age, 
there  would  be  nothing  more  to  be  desired  regarding 
the  topic.  Hoping  that  this  great  subject  will  receive 
the  attention  of  Government,  and  certainly  none  can 
be  more  deserving  of  it,  we  wish  to  conclude  this 
hurried  sketch,  by  reference  to  two  subjects  of  much 
importance. 

The  first  is,  would  it  be  just  and  proper  to  limit  the 


EDUCATION. 


229 


right  of  suffrage  to  those  who  can  read  and  write  ? 
This  is  not  a  novel  suggestion,  as  in  the  bill  presented 
last  year  by  Lord  Brougham,  to  the  House  of  Lords, 
provision  is  made  for  allowing  every  educated  man  a 
vote  in  the  school  meetings  of  the  National  Schools.* 
If  this  principle  were  introduced,  and  surely  it  were 
a  politic  one,  by  constantly  making  each  illiterate 
individual  feel  his  inferiority,  it  would  effectually 
stimulate  him  to  exertion  to  overcome  the  defect  in 
his  education,  arid  make  him  anxious  that  his  chil- 
dren should  not  labour  under  the  same  disability. 
In  Pennsylvania,  the  legislature  report,  100,000  voters 
unable  to  read,  and  of  the  number  Mr.  Crawford 
estimates  as  without  the  means  of  instruction, 
1,000,000  will  probably  in  10  years  survive  arid  con- 
tinue equally  ignorant.  And  is  it  right  to  trust  the 
destinies  of  this  country  in  the  hands  of  those  whose 
passions  only  can  be  reached  by  declamatory  orations 
but  whose  judgment  cannot  be  approached  by  the 
calmer  voice  of  reason?  It  might  be  odious  to  make 
this  restriction  apply  to  those  who  have  already  ex- 
ercised the  privilege  of  voting,  but  we  would  recom- 
mend the  question  to  the  Government,  and  to  the  pub- 
lic generally,  as  well  worthy  of  consideration.  If  a 
restriction  were  placed  to  prevent  all  persons  under 
the  age  of  20,  and  foreign  born  citizens  not  naturalized 
from  acquiring  the  right  of  suffrage,  till  they  were 
capable  of  reading  and  writing,  no  injustice  would 
be  done  to  them,  and  we  think  only  a  due  regard 
would  be  exercised  for  the  safety  and  credit  of  the 
country.  And  little  practical  difficulty  would  result 
from  this  provision,  as  the  judges  of  any  court  might 

*  Edinburgh  Review,  Vol.  G8,  reprint,  232. 


230  EDUCATION. 

be  authorized  to  grant  a  certificate  on  the  individuals 
reading  audibly  and  transcribing  legibly  some  dozen 
lines  of  any  legal  authority  at  hand.     We   would 
wish  to  suggest  a  legal  authority,  or  statute  book,  in 
preference  to  the  bible,  both  as  more  proper  and  as 
it  would  prevent  the  applicant  from  preparing  himself 
for  examination,  by  studying  some  particular  chapter. 
The  other  topic  is  the  extent  to  which  religious 
instruction  in  public  schools  should  be  carried.     This 
perhaps  is  the  most  difficult  and  delicate  subject  con- 
nected with  popular  education.      We  believe  that  it 
is  impossible  to  give  other  than  a  religious  or  an  irreli- 
gious education,  there  is  no  middle  course,  the  ex- 
panding affections  of  the  youthful  mind  must  be  di- 
rected to  embrace  conceptions  of  the  nature  and  purity 
of  the  Godhead,  or  they  will  unavoidably  contract  a 
contrary  tendency.    But  whenever  the  term  religion  is 
introduced,  the  word  sectarian  seems  almost  instinct- 
ively to  follow,  and  it  is  to  keep  these  totally  distinct, 
that  the  attention  of  the  philanthropist  should  be  di- 
rected.     In  the  States  of  New-York,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Ohio,  the  bible  is  used  as  a  school  book,  but  it  is 
to  be  used  without  note  or  comment,  and  under  cer- 
tain modifications,  this  is  the  course  which  should 
universally  be  adopted.      It  is  possible  to  elucidate 
the  leading  doctrines  of  the  bible,  to  impress  the 
scholar  with  a  reverence  for  God  and  this  book  as  a 
revelation  from  him,  without  inculcating  any  doctrine 
which  may  be  peculiar  to  any  one  sect.     Professor 
Stowe  exemplifies  this  in  a  very  happy  manner,  in 
his  report,  by  the  classification  of  the  different  descrip- 
tive passages  in  the  bible,  to  convince  the  pupil  that 
the  God  of  nature,  who  is  daily  revealing  himself  to 


EDUCATION.  231 

the  young  inquirer,  is  the  same  who  is  revealed  to 
the  more  aged  disciple  in  the  pages  of  scripture. 
This  exclusion  of  doctrinal  matter  from  the  usual 
routine  of  public  instruction,  is  the  only  concession 
which  a  religious  community  should  consent  to,  or 
the  atheist  will  again  exclaim,  "the  moment  of  the 
catastrophe  is  come,  all  these  prejudices  must  fall  at 
the  same  time;  we  must  destroy  them  or  they  will 
destroy  us."*  There  are  certain  limits  by  which  even 
the  most  conciliatory  spirit  must  resolve  to  abide, 
and  the  recognition  of  the  divine  inspiration  of  reve- 
lation in  all  public  schools,  is  one.  But  there  are 
some  very  difficult  questions  connected  with  this  sub- 
ject, as  regards  the  education  of  the  youth  of  the 
Catholic  church,  which  attracts  the  attention  of  the 
Governor  of  the  State  of  New- York,  in  his  recent 
message,  as  one  of  great  importance.  We  hope  that 
some  course  may  be  adopted  which  may  obviate 
the  difficulty,  arid  therefore  we  wish  to  suggest 
the  propriety  of  inquiring  into  the  number  and  com- 
parative importance  of  the  religious  sects  in  this 
country,  as  it  will  tend  to  throw  much  light  upon 
the  useful  and  important  subject  of  the  principles  of 
popular  education. 

*  Speech  of  M.  Dupont  at  the  National  Convention,  Paris,  1792. 


232 


CLERGY. 


When  enumerating  the  various  professions,  page 
126,  we  omitted  the  clergy,  being  anxious  to  devote 
a  few  remarks  to  the  subject  in  order  to  direct  public 
attention  more  particularly  to  it.     While  the  subject 
of  the   comparative   taxation  in   this   country   and 
Europe   has  attracted  much  attention,  the  number 
and  divisions  of  the  clergy  have  also  been  the  theme 
of  discussion,  and  it  were  much  to  be  desired  that 
Government  should  authorize  some  statistical  inqui- 
ries being  made  into  the  religious  condition  of  the  na- 
tion.    We  are  well  aware  that  the  most  studied  sep- 
aration has  always  been  maintained  between  the  Ex- 
ecutive and   any  body  of  Christians,   and  that  the 
evils    arising    from   the  religious  establishment  of 
England,  have  served  as  a  beacon,  to  warn  America 
from  becoming  entangled  in  the  same  snare.     But 
this  total  separation  by  no  means  precludes  the  pro- 
priety of  making  some  statistical  inquiries  into  the 
provision  which  Christians  in  this  country,  by  their 
own  voluntary  exertions  afford  to  their  ministers,  or 
the  number  of  these  who  are  settled  throughout  the 
country.      This   was    one   of   the  topics  regarding 
which  Mr.  Livingston  endeavoured  to  obtain  some 
information,  but  unfortunately,  on  this  as  well  as  on 
other  .subjects,  he  met  with  no  encouragement.     A 
popular  government  which  depends  for  its  support 


CLERGY.  233 

upon  the  morality  and  good  faith  of  its  citizens,  has 
naturally  a  deep  interest  in  furthering  and  promoting 
the  religious  feeling  of  the  community,  and  is  neces- 
sarily interested  in  any  inquiry  into  the  present  means 
of  religious  instruction,  with  which  the  country  is 
provided. 

Of  the  number  of  men  who  are  devoted  to  the 
cause  of  the  Christian  religion,  embracing  the  various 
sects  into  which  they  are  divided,  little  accurate  in- 
formation exists.  It  may  be  thought  that  such  might 
easily  be  obtained,  yet  we  find  that  the  returns  made 
in  the  publications  of  the  various  denominations  are 
so  vague  and  contradictory,  that  no  accurate  analysis 
can  be  made  of  the  number  of  spiritual  teachers ; 
and  in  the  following  extracts  from  clerical  writers 
which  we  give,  there  is  a  vagueness  of  assertion  which 
completely  contradicts  a  patient  inquiry  into  facts. 
The  Rev.  Calvin  Colton,  in  his  Church  and  State  in 
America,  says  in  1834  :  "  By  the  last  census,  (1830,) 
the  population  of  the  United  States  was  12,866,020. 
Allowing  three  hundred  Catholic  priests,  we  shall 
then  have,  of  all  denominations,  as  may  be  seen,  full 
one  minister  to  every  thousand  souls,  by  the  estimate 
of  the  last  census.  Deducting  the  Roman  Catholics, 
and  those  not  estimated  orthodox,  all  of  which,  in 
their  own  connections,  doubtless  have  their  influence 
in  promoting  morality,  and  in  securing  the  good  order 
of  society,  we  shall  still  have  11,138,  whose  Chris- 
tianity is  generally  sound,  whose  qualifications  are 
for  the  most  part  fitted  for  the  several  classes  of  so- 
ciety among  whom  their  labours  are  distributed,  and 
a  very  large  proportion  of  whom  would  not  suffer  by 
comparison  in  piety  and  professional  learning  with 
30 


234 


CLERGY. 


any  set  of  men  of  the  same  class  in  the  Christian 
world,  when  viewed  in  mass  and  in  their  ordinary 
relations  to  society."  From  such  a  -flattering  state- 
ment of  the  religious  condition  of  this  land,  let  us 
turn  to  another  authority — the  Rev.  Dr.  Jarvis,  of 
Middletown,  and  hear  what,  in  1824,  he  said  of  the 
condition  of  religion  here.  "  It  has  been  shown  by 
published  documents  that  on  the  general  estimate  of 
one  pastor  to  a  thousand  souls,  there  are  not  enough 
at  this  present  moment  to  supply  three  millions  of  our 
population,  and  consequently,  that  there  are  now 
seven  millions  in  the  United  States,  who  are  either 
wholly  or  partially  deprived  of  the  means  of  religion ;" 
the  difference  of  ten  years  in  these  estimates  cannot 
be  supposed  to  have  produced  much  of  their  variance. 
In  1833,  at  the  anniversary  of  the  Home  Missionary 
Society,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Plummer  says  :  "  Let  us  now 
see  how  these  two  portions  (the  Western  and 
Southern  States)  are  instructed.  In  the  South,  em- 
bracing all  ministers  of  all  Evangelical  denomina- 
tions, the  number  is  1572,  being  one  minister  to  3321 
of  a  population.  In  the  West,  adding  .the  Cumber- 
land presbytery,  in  1817,  there  is  one  minister  to  2190 
persons.  And  of  the  denominations  which  require 
a  sound  and  thorough  education,  before  men  are  per- 
mitted to  enter  the  ministry,  there  are  at  the  rate  of 
one  minister  to  12,429." 

With  such  discrepancy  in  the  estimated  number  of 
clergy  officiating  in  the  United  States,  it  were  vain 
to  attempt  to  procure  any  correct  estimate  of  their 
stipends,  or  any  arrangement  according  to  the 
churches  to  which  they  belong.  But  each  of  these  are 
subjects  which  the  General  Government  might  well 


CLERGY.  ,      235 

inquire  into,  and  obtain  satisfactory  and  accurate  in- 
formation regarding. 

There  may  be  many  difficulties  in  determining  ex- 
actly who  "Ministers"  are,  as  in  many  parts  of  the 
country,  and  in  some  denominations,  those  bear  this 
appellation  who,  throughout  the  week,  support  them- 
selves by  secular  labour.  Now  it  is  evidently  not 
the  part  of  Government,  standing  aloof  from  all  reli- 
gious denominations,  to  inquire  particularly  into  the 
ecclesiastical  constitution  of  the  various  sects  with 
which  this  country  teems ;  it  should  rather  adopt 
some  general  definition  which  would  include  the 
class  which  it  is  desirable  to  enumerate,  and  such  a 
definition  were  preferable,  if  it  were  based  upon  the 
visible  means  of  support,  as  being  less  liable  to  mis- 
construction. It  is  impossible  to  take  education  as 
the  criterion,  as  there  would  both  be  something  inqui- 
sitorial in  inquiring  into  the  youthful  studies  of  settled 
pastors,  and  also  as  all  the  sects  in  this  country  ad- 
mit of  certain  established  qualifications  as  an  equiva- 
lent for  academical  instruction. 

Not  being  able  to  take  education  as  the  criterion  by 
which  to  determine  who  are  clergymen,  the  only  other 
test  is,  are  they  supported  by  clerical  labours,  or  do 
they  derive  a  maintenance  by  teaching  religion  ?  We 
wish  not  to  lower  the  standard  by  which  the  clergy 
might  be  estimated,  and  in  taking  their  pecuniary 
means,  we  desire  only  to  establish  a  criterion  regard- 
ing which  there  can  be  no  misconception.  In  such  a 
general  division,  all  we  believe,  will  be  included  who 
ought  to  be  enumerated  as  among  the  clergy,  and 
those  who  merely  exhort  and  preach  extemporane- 
ously, without  preparation  and  previous  education, 


236  CLERGY. 

and  labour  for  their  support  in  some  secular  employ- 
ment should  be  omitted.  If  all  who  preach  were  in- 
cluded in  these  returns,  they  would  be  of  no  value 
as  affording  any  means  of  comparing  the  relative 
strength  of  the  Christian  ministry  in  Europe  and 
America. 

Of  the  aggregate  expense  of  the  religious  instruc- 
tion in  this  country  nothing  is  known,  though  the 
Quarterly  Review  states  it  to  be  about  $16,914,944, 
or  about  $1150  to  each  clergyman.  We  could  wish 
that  such  were  an  accurate  statement  of  the  amount 
received  by  the  American  clergy,  bat  the  assertion  is 
too  ridiculous  to  require  refutation.  What  the  actual 
amount  may  be,  it  remains  for  Government,  which 
alone  can  institute  an  inquiry  into  the  subject,  in  all 
parts  of  the  country,  to  determine.  In  the  statistical 
tables  we  find  that  Maine  had  in  1835,  368  clergy, 
whose  united  income  amounted  to  $86,795,  or  about 
$236  each.  The  aggregate  amount  of  ministers'  salary 
paid  in  each  district  might  be  given,  so  that  the  return 
would  lose  that  invidious  and  personal  appearance  it 
might  otherwise  present. 

It  is  difficult  to  say,  to  what  extent,  if  any,  the 
inquiry  into  the  religious  divisions  of  the  sects  should 
be  carried,  but  we  think  that  it  should  be  attempted, 
not  so  much  from  the  interest  or  utility  it  would  be 
of  to  the  statist,  as  from  the  satisfaction  it  would 
afford  to  some  bodies  of  Chrfstians.  It  would  of 
course  be  a  vain  thing  for  Government  to  attempt  ac- 
curately to  discriminate  the  various  shades  which  dis- 
tinguish the  different  religious  denominations  among 
us,  and  to  have  each  separately  enumerated ;  but  some 
more  general  classification  might  be  adopted,  uniting 


CLERGY.  237 

tinder  one  head,  those  sects  whose  doctrine  and  prin- 
ciples mainly  corresponded.  We  rather  believe  that 
7  or  8  divisions  would  be  as  particular  a  classification 
of  the  various  sects  as  is  required.  But  should  a 
more  complete  enumeration  be  considered  desirable, 
we  append  the  following  list  taken  from  the  Ameri- 
can Almanac  for  1839,  as  furnishing  a  plan  which  in 
such  a  case,  might  be  followed.* 

If  the  principle  we  have  above  applied  to  discrimi- 
nate who  are  and  who  are  not  ministers,  viz  :  whether 
they  are  supported  solely  by  their  profession  be  cor- 
rect, many  in  the  above  list  would  be  excluded,  and 
the  aggregate  of  15,000  be  very  much  reduced.  It 
therefore  would  be  well,  should  a  full  list  like  this 
be  adopted,  to  have  two  columns,  so  that  those  who 
labour  manually  should  be  separated  from  those  of 
a  more  educated  character,  who  are  supported  entirely 
by  the  funds  set  apart  for  religious  purposes. 

No.  of  Ministers. 

*  Baptists, 4239 

"         Free-will, 612 

"         Seventh  Day, 46 

"         Six  Principle, 10 

Catholics, 389 

Christians,    . SOO 

Congregationalists, 1150 

Dutch  Reformed, 192 

Episcopalians, 849 

Friends, " 

German  Reformed, 180 

Jews, " 

Lutherans 267 

Mennonites, " 

Methodists, 2764 

"         Protestant, .  400 

Moravian,  or  United  Brethren, 33 

Mormonites, 

New  Jerusalem  Cnurch, 33 

Presbyterians 2225 

Cumberland,     ......  450 

"            Associate 87 

"            Reformed, 20 

"            Associate  Reformed,     ...  116 

Shakers, 45 

Tunkers, 40 

Unitarians, 174 

Univeralists, 317 


238  CLERGY. 

Whether  it  is  deemed  advisable  or  not  for  Gov- 
ernment to  enter  into  the  examination  of  this  subject 
at  all,  it  is  not  for  us  to  decide;  but  we  rest  assured 
that  however  numerous  the  clergy  in  this  country 
may  be,  and  whatever  be  their  means  of  subsistence, 
no  country  in  the  world  can  boast  of  a  more  patient 
and  laborious  ministry,  and  that  no  where  does  zeal 
for  the  cause  in  which  they  have  embarked,  burn 
with  a  brighter  or  a  purer  flame. 


239         LI  liii         V 


UNI  VI:K>SIT\     >»• 
V.CA1JFOF?XJLA. 

TAXATION. 


In  the  statistical  tables  on  this  subject,  presented 
to  Congress  in  1833,  Mr.  Livingston  makes  the  fol- 
lowing remarks :  "  A  controversy  has  arisen  of  some 
interest  to  the  reputation  of  our  country,  and  which 
may  affect  that  of  representative  Governments  every 
where.  It  is  asserted  that  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  pay  a  greater  amount  of  taxes  in  proportion  to 
the  population  than  the  subjects  of  France  ;  from 
which  the  conclusion  is  drawn,  that  the  republican 
form  of  government,  is  more  expensive  than  a  mo- 
narchical. I  have  been  requested  to  collect  facts  that 
may  elucidate  this  question.  To  do  it,  the  necessary 
information  must  be  procured  from  each  state,  and 
each  town  and  county  in  it.  This  will  certainly  be 
attended  with  some  trouble,  and  I  have  thought  that 
reliance  might  be  placed  on  your  exertions  (the 
executive  officers  of  each  state)  to  procure  it  for  your 
state,  even  if  it  should  answer  no  other  end  than  that 
of  determining  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  the  posi- 
tion ;  but  much  more  important  benefits  will  result 
from  it.  First,  as  to  your  own  state,  it  will  give  you 
a  mass  of  fiscal  statistics,  the  collection  of  which 
cannot  but  be  highly  useful  to  your  legislature,  ena- 
bling them  to  compare  the  different  modes  of  appor- 
tioning the  public  burdens  in  the  towns,  counties  and 
cities  of  the  state,  and  thus  correcting  abuses,  select- 
ing the  best  mode  of  laying  the  local  and  general 


240  TAXATION. 

charges,  so  as  to  produce  economy  in  the  expenditure 
and  equality  in  the  burdens  of  the  citizens.  This 
information  collected  in  a  tabular  form  has  not,  it  is 
believed,  been  in  any  State,  yet  submitted  to  the  Le- 
gislature or  the  public." 

"  Secondly,  in  relation  to  the  Union.  When  the 
information  has  been  received  from  the  diffe rent  states, 
which  it  is  the  object  of  this  inquiry  to  get  from 
each,  tables  of  the  returns  will  be  made  out  at  this 
Department  and  the  whole  will  be  sent  to  every 
state,  thus  affording  to  all  a  condensed  view  of  the 
burdens  borne  by  the  citizens  of  the  states,  respec- 
tively, and  enabling  them  to  profit  by  the  good  and 
avoid  the  evil  in  the  respective  modes  of  laying  and 
collecting  taxes  and  other  public  contributions." 

•The  controversy  here  alluded  to,  arose  from  some 
statements  in  La  Revue  Britannique  and  in  the 
Quarterly  Review,  in  the  former  of  which,  it  was 
stated,  that  the  expenses  per  capitem  of  the  whole 
taxation,  were  greater  in  the  United  States,  than  in 
France,  and  the  latter,  that  when  the  population  of 
the  United  States  equalled  the  present  population  of 
England,  the  expenses  of  its  present  form  of  govern- 
ment would  be  greater. 

But  the  tables  sent  to  the  different  states  for  further 
information,  in  most  cases  died  a  natural  death,  no  re- 
turns being  made  to  the  General  Government,  arid 
the  controversy  abroad  ended  as  usual,  without  either 
party  convincing  the  ether.  Now  it  is  remarkable 
that  the  amount  of  information  possessed  by  the 
writers  in  that  day,  remains  unaltered  by  any  further 
insight  or  returns  on  the  subject,  and  were  the  con- 
troversy again  to  be  renewed,  no  more  detailed  state- 


TAXATION.  241 

ments  based  upon  accurate  information  could  be  ob- 
tained. The  executive  officers  of  some  of  the  State 
Governments  are  ignorant  of  the  subject,  and  there- 
fore it  were  vain  to  expect  that  they  could  report 
upon  it  to  the  department  of  State,  and  in  New- 
Jersey,  neither  the  amount  of  school  tax,  road  tax, 
nor  poor  tax,  is  known  beyond  the  limits  of  the  differ- 
ent counties,  and  in  some  cases,  such  knowledge  is 
confined  to  the  smaller  townships.  A  cursory  review 
of  the  controversy,  as  carried  on  in  Europe,  on  the 
subject,  may  be  useful,  when  the  reader  is  assured 
that  the  same  topics  may  be  again  the  subject  of 
debate  without  any  additional  power  to  ascertain  the 
truth  being  in  the  mean  time  attained. 

The  writer  of  the  article  in  the  Revue  Britannique, 
has  instituted  a  comparison  generally,  between  the 
aggregate  burdens  borne  by  the  French  nation,  to 
defray  the  expenses  of  the  state,  and  those  which  the 
Americans  support  fora  similar  purpose  ;  he  even 
includes  in  his  estimate,  the  military  and  naval  esta- 
blishments, foreign  relations,  and  all  the  items  of  ,the 
national  budgets  of  the  two  countries ;  and  calculates 
that  the  annual  sum  of  the  whole  public  charges 
paid  by  each  inhabitant  of  the  United  States,  is  thir- 
ty-five francs,  while  in  France,  it  is  but  thirty-one 
francs. 

The  Quarterly  Review  does  not  attempt  a  general 
comparison  between  the  expenses  of  Great  Britain 
and  those  of  the  United  States,  but  taking  certain 
items  of  the  respective  annual  expenditures,  comes 
to  a  prospective  conclusion  that  if  the  expenditures 
are  not  quite  equal  at  present,  yet,  when  the  popula- 
tion of  the  United  States  shall  equal  that  of  Great 
31 


242  TAXATION. 

Britain,  these  items  by  a  pro  rata  increase,  will,  if 
parliamentary  pensions  be  omitted,  exceed  the  equiva- 
lent expenses  in  England,  by  about  $280,000.  With 
regard  to  the  administration  of  justice,  the  Reviewer 
gives  no  positive  estimate,  but  affirms  that  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  judiciary  expendi- 
ture of  America,  exceeds  that  of  England. 

To  these  statements  the  attention  of  General  La 
Fayette  was  soon  called,  and  instead  of  answering 
them  himself,  he  addressed  two  of  his  friends,  Gen. 
Bernard  and  Fenimore  Cooper,  at  that  time  in  Paris, 
from  whom  he  hoped  to  obtain  some  counter  state- 
ments, which  would  oppose  the  the  fallacy  of  such 
estimates  of  the  taxes  paid  by  the  American  citizen. 

To  show  the  nature  of  the  statements  made  by 
the  diiferent  individuals,  and  public  journals,  though 
without  any  intention  of  awarding  the  victory  to 
either  one  party  or  the  other,  as  we  feel  that  no  suffi- 
cient information  exists  to  warrant  a  correct  judgment 
being  formed  regarding  it:  we  shall  give  a  short 
summary  of  the  estimates  made  by  these  respective 
authorities.  Each  individual  pays  annually  towards 
the  public  expenditures,  as  follows : 

According  to  Revue  Britannique,  No.  12,  1831, 
In  France,  31  francs,  or  $5.82 

In  the  United  States,     35      "        "     6.57 

Mr.  Fenimore  Cooper's  estimate. 

In  the  United  States,  i.  e.  a  citizen  of  New- York, 
to  the  General  and  State  Governments,  including 
principal  and  interest  of  public  debt,  schools,  sup- 


TAXATION.  243 

port  of  clergy,  poor,  internal  improvements,   &c., 
at  14  francs  5  centimes,  or  $2.73 

Without  the  ecclesiastical  expenses,  the 
poor,  or  sums  paid  towards  the  extinction 
of  the  public  debt  and  interest  upon  it, 

5  francs,  35c.  1.00 

To  the  State  of  New- York,  95c.  18 

General  Bernard's  Calculation. 

In  France,  without  clergy,  28f.  12c.        $5.28 

In  United  States,     do.  llf.  47c.          2.16 

In  France,  without  the  debt,  20f.  57c.          3.86 

In  United  States,         do.  6f.     6c. 

In  United  States,  maximum  paid  by 
each  individual  to  state  govern- 
ment, 1,32        $  .24 
Or  to  federal  and  state  governments, 

exclusive  of  clergy.  2.51 

Capt.  Basil  Hall. 

In  United  States  to  General  Government,          $2.24 
Ditto  State  Government,  72 

Mr.  Ouseletfs  Statement. 

For  the  average  expenditure  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  during  the  years  1828, 
'29  and  '30,  including  the  national  debt, 
the  clergy  of  every  denomination,  and  the 
poor  rates,  an  inhabitant  of  Great  Britain 
pays  a  minimum  of  about  $12.80 

Or  deducting  the  interest  of  the  national 
debt,  say  £28,000,000,  about  7.20 


244  TAXATION. 

The  disparity  in  these  estimates  is  very  great,  and 
it  is  impossible  to  decide  upon  their  comparative  ac- 
curacy, the  data  on  which  the  conclusions  are  formed 
being  so  variable.  It  is  curious  to  trace  in  detail  the 
steps  by  which  these  authors  arrive  at  their  different 
conclusions. 

The  Revue  Britannique  thus  enumerates  the  diffe- 
rent items  of  expense  to  America  : 

Francs. 

Federal  Budget,  131,000,000 

States,  -  -     131,000,000 

Tolls  and  Bridges,  -  10,000,000 

Clergy,  30,000,000 

Militia  in  time  of  peace,  50,000,000 


352,000,000 
Equal  to  $66,041,351 

This  sum  divided  by  the  supposed  population  in 
1830,  viz.,  11,000,000,  the  sum  of  $6.57  is  obtained 
as  the  expense  of  each  individual.* 

General  Bernard,  in  commenting  upon  the  above 
table,  thus  varies  the  results  at  which  he  arrives. 

The  American  Budget  he  places  at  130,431,475f. 
90c,,  or  about  $244,712 — being  nearly  the  same 
amount  as  the  Revue,  while  he  makes  the  French 
Budget,  including  the  same  heads  of  expenditure, 
f.977,935,329,  or  about  $1,834,775. 

The  second  item,  however,  he  places  at  16,970r- 
576f.,  as  the  maximum  of  the  aggregate  state  ex- 
penses of  the  Union.  In  arriving  at  this  conclusion, 

*  We  reduce  these  respective  sums  to  dollars,  at  the  rate  of  5.33  francs  to  a 
dollar,  although  there  is  some  discrepancy  in  the  calculation. 


TAXATION.  245 

the  General  takes  the  expenditure  of  two  of  the 
richest  and  most  populous  states,  Virginia  and  New- 
York,  and  examining  into  their  expenses  obtains  If. 
25c.  as  the  maximum  of  individual  charge,  and  this 
multiplied  into  the  whole  population  of  the  Union 
gives  the  above  aggregate. 

The  large  charge  for  tolls  and  turnpikes,  the  Ge- 
neral properly  discards  from  the  state  expenses,  as 
in  this  country  and  England,  government  have  no- 
thing to  do  with  the  maintenance  of  the  highways, 
and  each  individual  contributes  to  their  support  in 
proportion  to  the  use  he  makes  of  them,  in  this  par- 
ticular corresponding  to  the  pontages,  canal  tolls,  and 
ferries  in  France. 

With  regard  to  the  clergy,  General  Bernard  pro- 
fesses a  complete  inability  to  make  any  calculation 
or  comparison  as  to  the  annual  expenses  borne  by 
the  population  of  the  different  countries.  The  Quar- 
terly Review  founds  its  calculations  upon  a  state- 
ment of  Dr.  Cooper's,*  from  which  he  estimates  the 
aggregate  amount  paid  throughout  the  Union  to  the 
clergy  of  all  sects,  at  £3,081,650,  or  $14,914,944, 
and  on  the  same  authority  states  the  number  of  cler- 
gy to  be  13,000,  and  deduces  the  annual  income  of 
each  clergyman  in  America  to  be  $1150,  while  it 
makes  the  income  of  the  English  clergyman  on  an 
average  amount  only  to  $968.  This  is  a  curious 
instance  both  of  the  colouring  which  party  zeal  can 
give  to  certain  statements,  forgetting  at  the  time  the 
main  influence  of  the  argument,  and  the  business- 
like aspect  which  such  palpable  absurdities  can  as- 

*  Of  Columbia  College,  South  Carolina, 


246  TAXATION. 

sume,  when  reduced  to  the  form  of  a  calculation. 
Mr.  F.  Cooper,  on  the  other  hand,  seems  to  reduce 
the  income  of  each  clergyman  in  the  state  of  New- 
York,  to  less  than  $400,  and  as  10,000  clergy  seem  to 
to  be  more  t.han  actually  exist  in  the  United  States, 
the  expense  of  their  support  would,  instead  of  $14,- 
919,944,  be  only  $4,000,000. 

Lastly— there  can  be  no  better  authority  on  all 
subjects  connected  with  the  military  organization  of 
this  country  than  General  Bernard.  The  Revue 
Britannique  contrasts  the  military  establishment  of 
France  with  the  militia  system  of  America,  the  ex- 
pense of  which  it  values  at  50,000,000  of  francs, 
forgetting  to  estimate  the  cost  of  an  exactly  corre- 
sponding institution  of  France — the  National  Guards. 

Such  are  the  steps  by  which  the  General  reduces 
the  large  amount  of  the  American  Budget,  and  he 
concludes  by  making  the  annual  mean  amount  of 
public  charge  paid  by  each  American,  at  f.ll,47c.,  or 
about  $2.16. 

We  have  traced,  perhaps  at  too  great  length  the 
various  positions  which  were  taken  in  the  controversy 
alluded  to  by  different  writers,  and  certainly  without 
attempting  to  come  to  any  conclusion  of  our  own,  we 
have  exhibited  the  statements  made  by  each  party  to 
show  the  vagueness  of  the  data  from  which  they 
argued.  The  returns  from  the  several  states  which 
the  inquiries  submitted  to  the  different  governments 
called  out,  were,  as  we  have  already  stated,  extremely 
defective.  And  it  is  hardly  possible  to  classify  and 
arrange  those  that  were  made.  Partial  returns  were 
procured  from  Maine,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Missouri ;  but  it  is  evident,  that 


TAXATION.  247 

as  a  calculation  of  the  whole  amount  of  the  expendi- 
ture of  these  states,  drawn  from  these  very  partial 
returns,  must  be  liable  to  error,  that  error  must  be 
much  increased,  when  such  calculation  is  the  basis 
of  computation  for  the  whole  Union.  According  to 
the  summary  appended  to  these  returns,  we  find  the 
aggregate  expenses  in  these  states  to  be  thus 
computed : 

Population  according  to  5th  census — 

1830— in  these  states,  2,215,718 

Aggregate  annual  amount  of  taxes  of 
all  kinds,  levied  for  town,  county, 
or  state  purposes,  also  the  annual 
expenditure  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment, &c.  $3,438,515.12 

Number  of  clergy  of  all  denominations 

actual  residents,  1792 

Aggregate  amount  of  salaries  received 

by  resident  clergymen,  annually,          $456,758.21 

Number  of  daysMabour  assessed  in 
each  year,  on  the  whole  towns  for 
the  construction  and  repair  of  roads 
and  bridges,  1,115,783 

Average  value  of  labour  per  day,  for 
the  construction  and  repair  of  roads 
and  bridges,  $0.87 

Total  amount  of  labour,  as  per  fore- 
going valuation,*for  the  construction 
and  repair  of  roads  and  bridges,  $971,188.73 

The  returns  of  the  paupers  are  too 
defective  to  be  applied  to  the  whole 
of  these  states. 


248  TAXATION. 

The  aggregate  annual  amount  of  town- 
ship tax  for  the  support  of  free 
schools,  $219,990 

Aggregate  number  of  pupils  in  all  the 
free  schools  in  four  of  these  states 
only,  •  218,744 

Number  of  colleges,  13 

Aggregate  number  of  students  in  all 

the  colleges,  1175 

Aggregate  -amount  of  contingent  ex- 
penses incurred  in  the  several 
towns,  $272,964.02 

From  these  imperfect  data,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  estimates  the 
aggregate  of  taxes  levied  within  the 
several  states,  for  the  support  of  the 
State  Governments,  at  $19,280,582.92 

And  the  annual  expenditure  of  the 

National  Government  at  $13,556,800.60 


Making  in  the  grand  total,  $32,837,383.52 

Making  the  annual  expenditure  of  each  individual 
in  the  United  States,  exclusive  of  slaves,  about  three 
dollars,  three  cents — of  that  sum,  $1.25  being  to  the 
General  Government,  and  $1.79  being  to  the  State 
Government. 

Dr.  Cleland  thus  states  the  taxes  per  head  in  the 
United  Kingdom  to  be 

Average  sum  paid  bjr 
Population.  each  inhabitant. 

England  and  Wales,      13,894,574  $14.94 

Scotland,  2,365,807  10.36 

Ireland,  7,802,365  2.70 


TAXATION.  249 

And  this  includes  only  the  sum  collected  by  the 
general  government,  exclusive  of  poor  tax  and  county 
rates.  "  The  French,"  he  continues,  "  Austrians, 
Germans,  Russians,  Italians,  &c.  pay  from  $3  to  $6 
per  head  to  the  state.  The  Irish  seem  to  be  the 
lightest  taxed  people  in  Europe." 

Before  leaving  this  subject,  which  presents  a  tissue 
of  contradictory  statements,  and  stands,  as  the  reader 
will  perceive,  greatly  in  need  of  more  explicit  infor- 
mation, we  will  quote  the  condition  of  the  state  of 
New  Jersey  in  1832. 
The  expenses  of  this  state,  for  the  local 
government,   including  the   military 
force  together  with  the  value  of  the 
time  consumed  in  training,  and  ex- 
penses of  all  kinds,  $141,440 
The  annual  cost  of  religious  instruction,    120,000 
State  charges,  including  township  and 
county   rates,  at   $1,2920    per  head, 
nearly,  427,405  15 


$688,845  15 

Which,  divided  by  the  population,  (330,000,)  would 
give  about  $2.08  as  the  share  each  had  to  pay  towards 
the  state  government.  x 

As  so  much  ambiguity  exists  relative  to  the  amount 
of  taxes  collected,  we  cannot  expect  to  find  much  ac- 
curate information  regarding  the  expense  of  collection 
of  the  revenue  in  the  United  States.  Of  the  sums 
allowed  for  collecting  the  different  state  assessments 
we  are  unable  to  obtain  the  least  information ;  and 
the  following  statements  will  show  the  comparative 
cost  of  management  in  this  country  and  Europe. 

32 


250 


TAXATION. 


In  the  United  States  collection  costs  5jj  per  cent. 
In         England,  according  to  Sir 

Henry  Parnell,  J2j    " 

In         France,*  \<2^  "       " 

or,  more  particularly,   according  to  Mr.  McCulloch, 
the  collection  of  the 
Custom  duties,  in  England,  cost  about  5?  per  cent. 

"  Ireland,      "         "    12}     "      " 
Excise        "         "  England,    "         "      6|     "      " 


Ireland,      "         "      9 


Stamp  "      2g     "      " 

Assessed  taxes,  "  England.    "         "      65     "      " 
on  their  gross  value. 

These  statements,  it  will  be  observed,  refer  only 
to  the  collection  of  the  general  taxes,  and  it  is  proba- 
ble that  the  per-centage  allowed  for  collecting  the 
other  sums  expended  in  state,  county  and  township 
expenses,  is  much  greater.  It  were  therefore  well 
fully  to  investigate  the  subject. 

In  the  various  states  in  the  Union,  the  principles 
upon  which  the  taxes  are  assessed  differ  materially; 
and  on  this  account  much  previous  care  will  be  ne- 
cessary to  procure  schedules  suited  to  the  condition 
of  each  section  of  the  country.  In  some  cities,  and 
also  in  some  states,  direct  taxes  are  levied  upon  the 
personal  and  heritable  property,  and  we  believe  no 
great  injustice  is  done  to  the  inhabitants ;  yet  some 
authors  inveigh  against  the  policy  of  this  mode  of 
taxation.  "  Direct  taxes  on  property  have  been  the 
curse  of  every  country  into  which  they  have  been, 
introduced.  To  evade  them,  people  that  are  not  poor 

*  See  Ouseley's  Remarks  on  the  Statistics  of  the  United  States,  to  which 
work  we  have  been  indebted  for  much  of  the  foregoing  information. 


TAXATION.  251 

counterfeit  poverty ;  some  of  the  most  powerful  incen- 
tives to  industry  and  economy  are  in  consequence 
destroyed,  at  the  same  time  that  inferior  stock  and 
machinery  are  made  use  of.  Such  taxes  are  besides 
most  unpopular,  as  well  from  their  requiring  an  odious 
though  ineffectual  inquisition  into  the  affairs  of  indi- 
viduals, as  from  their  being  direct."*  It  would  be 
useful  to  know  if  these  disadvantages  apply  to  the 
practical  application  of  direct  taxation,  or  only  to  the 
influence  it  is  supposed  in  theory  to  exercise. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  other  states,  no  direct  or 
personal  tax  is  levied,  but  assessed  taxes  prevail,  as 
in  New-Jersey,  where  grist  mills  pay  $3  each  run 
of  stones,  cotton  factories  $30,  saw  mills  each  saw 
$8,  &c. 

Again,  in  the  statistical  tables  already  referred  to, 
we  find  that  New  Hampshire  levies  a  poll  tax  on  the 
male  citizens  from  18  to  70  years  of  age,  as  well  as 
on  real  and  personal  estate,  the  expense  of  the  col- 
lection of  which  is  only  about  1  per  cent. 

These  different  modes  which  the  states  pursue  in 
imposing  assessments  upon  their  citizens,  render  it 
necessary  that  the  schedules  transmitted  to  each 
state  should  agree  with  the  form  in  which  the 
information  is  to  be  reported  ;  and  this  can  only  be 
attained  by  previously  instituting  the  necessary  in- 
quiries into  the  different  methods  pursued.  The 
question,  as  Mr.  Livingston  justly  remarks,  is  one  of 
real  utility,  as  it  will  enable  the  state  legislatures  "  to 
profit  by  the  good,  and  avoid  the  evil,"  in  the  systems 
of  taxation  which  are  at  present  in  use  in  the  United 
States.  And  till  this  inquiry  takes  place,  the  con- 

*  McCulloch's  Statistics  of  the  British  Empire,  ii.  516. 


252 


TAXATION. 


troversy  regarding  the  comparative  expense  of  mo- 
narchical and  republican  governments  is  liable  at 
any  time  to  be  again  awakened,  and  no  more  correct 
data,  as  we  have  before  remarked,  exist  now  than 
formerly  to  ascertain  the  facts  necessary  for  deciding 
this  interesting  question. 

Indeed,  the  means  of  estimating  the  value  of  the 
taxable  property  in  the  country  are  rather  diminishing 
than  increasing,  as  some  very  useful  insight  was  ob- 
tained into  the  subject  by  the  general  government 
returns  in  1815,  when  it  resorted  to  direct  taxation  ; 
and  every  day,  of  course,  such  information  becomes 
more  obsolete  and  useless.  These  returns  are  more 
general  than  any  that  have  been  since  procured  ;  and 
although  we  do  not  think  it  advisable  to  recommend 
a  corresponding  valuation  of  property,  (as  there  is  no 
means  of  insuring  that  assessors  will  refer  to  the 
same  standard  of  value  property  of  the  same  descrip- 
tion, in  different  states,)  we  may  here  insert  an  ab- 
stract, as  illustrating  the  nature  of  the  returns  which 
government  found  it  necessary  to  procure,  when 
levying  direct  taxes  upon  the  several  states. 


Valuation  of  houses 
and  lands,  after  de- 
ducting     estimated 
value  of  slaves,  in 
1814  and  1815. 

Value  of  houses  and 
lands  in  1799,  omit 
ting  fractions. 

Increase  from 
1799  to  1814  and 
1815. 

Average  value 
of  land  includ- 
ing buildings,  in 
1814  and  1815. 

New  Hampshire,. 
Massachusetts,.  .  • 
Rhode  Island,  •••• 
Connecticut,  

$38,745,974 
143,765,560 
20,907,766 
88,534,971 
32461,120 

$23,175,046 
83,992,468 
11,066,357 
48,313424 
16,723,873 

$15,570,8-28 
59,773,092 
9,841,  4h9 
40,221,547 
15,737,247 

$9- 
18. 
39. 
34. 
6.40 

New-York,  
New  Jersey,  
Pennsylvania,  

269,3'/  0,900 
95,899,333 
346,633,889 
13449370 

100.380,706 
36,473,899 
102,145.900 
6,234,413 

168,990,194 
59,425,434 
244,4*7,989 
7,204,967 

16.50 
35. 
29. 
13. 

106,490,638 

32,372,290 

74,118,348 

20. 

Virginia  

165  608  199 

71,225,127 

94,383,072 

4.15 

N.  Carolina,  
S.Carolina,  

51,517,031 
74,325,262 

31,487,658 

30,842,372 
17,465,012 
12061,137 

20,674,659 
56,868,250 
19,426,521 

2.50 

8. 
2.50 

66  878,587 

21,408,090 

45,470,497 

4. 

24,233,750 

6,134,108 

18,099,662 

6. 

61  347  215 

TAXATION.  253 

We  have  omitted,  on  the  present  occasion,  all  re- 
ference to  the  various  theories  which  speculative 
economists  have  urged  upon  the  comparative  advan- 
tages of  taxes  on  production  and  consumption ;  for 
there  is  as  yet  so  much  uncertainty  in  the  views  en- 
tertained by  them,  that  we  are  afraid  to  trust  our- 
selves on  such  an  interesting  yet  difficult  subject. 
We  believe,  however,  in  this  country  it  is  universally  ] 
conceded  that  the  only  use  of  taxation  is  to  furnish  / 
the  necessary  supplies  to  government,  for  an  econo- 
mical administration  of  its  duties  and  powers  ;  and 
that  no  feeling  exists  of  the  propriety  of  burdening  one 
class  more  than  another  for  the  support  of  the  public 
treasury.  Dr.  Chalmers  would,  we  fear,  find  in  this 
republican  country  but  few  supporters  when  he  says  : 
"  We  cannot  sympathize  with  the  zeal  for  retrench- 
ment, believing  as  we  do,  that  if  taxes  were  rightly 
laid,  and  the  produce  of  them  rightly  expended,  they 
admit  of  being  most  beneficially  increased  for  the 
best  interests  of  the  nation ;  "*  for  the  universal 
feeling  obtains  here,  that  the  present  income  ought 
to  be  so  reduced  as  to  compel  the  government  officers 
to  take  every  opportunity  of  curtailing  the  public 
expenditure. 

But  returning  from  these  digressions,  let  us  urge 
the  propriety  of  instituting  inquiries  into  the  present 
condition  of  taxation,  existing  in  the  different  states ; 
as  well  for  the  improvement  of  the  modes  pursued  for 
raising  their  revenue,  by  some  of  the  states,  and  the 
general  interest  of  such  an  inquiry  to  the  statist,  as 
for  the  purpose-  of  exhibiting  to  the  General  Govern- 
ment the  resources  which  are  at  its  command. 

*  Chalmers'  Political  Economy—"  Effect  of  Taxes." 


254  TAXATION. 

It  were  much  to  be  desired,  that  the  different  sys- 
tems of  taxation,  prevailing  throughout  the  country 
should  be  accurately  known,  when  Government,  in- 
stead of  adopting  a  uniform  system,  like  the  one 
above,  might  conform  to  the  existing  methods,  in  use 
in  the  separate  states,  and  thus  with  greater  prompt- 
ness and  less  difficulty,  raise  the  requisite  sums.  We 
have  already,  at  page  19,  referred  to  the  inequality 
of  the  last  mode  of  apportioning  the  Federal  taxes, 
and  to  the  advantage  of  the  previous  preparation  of 
a  body  of  serviceable  information  which  can  be  ren- 
dered available  on  any  sudden  emergency. 

And  in  this  investigation  into  the  amount  of  taxes 
collected  in  the  United  States,  much  collateral  in- 
formation may  incidentally  be  procured  relative  to 
the  wealth  and  internal  economy  of  the  country. 
The  returns  should  be  obtained  from  the  different 
states  in  the  form  in  which  they  are  presented  to  the 
State  legislatures,  or  to  the  different  county  courts, 
and  they  should  be  carefully  remodelled  at  Wash- 
ington, according  to  some  general  scheme,  which  will 
most  fully  exhibit  the  information  they  contain.  By 
returns  thus  procured,  and  carefully  condensed,  not 
only  will  sufficient  data  be  afforded  to  put  at  rest 
the  controversy  regarding  the  comparative  expense 
of  the  different  governments  in  Europe  and  America, 
but  many  evident  practical  advantages  will  follow 
the  general  knowledge  of  the  burdens  which  each 
state  imposes  upon  its  inhabitants.  The  effect  of  the 
various  public  improvements  upon  the  burdens, 
wealth,  and  income  of  the  states  will  be  fully  illus- 
trated, the  progressive  advancement  which  each  dis- 
trict is  making,  and  the  general  regulations  of  police 
and  government  will  be  plainly  exhibited. 


255 


CN  I  VK  »;.-,.     . 


AGENTS  TO  BE  EMPLOYED. 

are  well  aware,  that  much  of  the  difficulty  of 
procuring  accurate  statistical  information  consists  in 
the  want  of  able  and  efficient  agents,  and  have  only 
to  regret  that  our  ignorance  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  business  of  the  different  departments  at  Washing- 
ton is  conducted,  must  prevent  our  entering  so  fully 
into  this  necessary  topic  as  we  could  wish.  We  must 
therefore  rest  content  with  making  such  suggestions 
as  seem  likely  to  be  of  service,  and  such  reference  to 
the  general  principles  which  should  be  kept  in  view 
as  the  occasion  may  seem  to  demand. 

The  sum  of  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  will 
probably  be  expended  in  the  course  of  the  year 
1840,  in  taking  an  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  advantages  which  would 
result  from  the  judicious  application  of  this  sum  is  a 
sufficient  reason  for  attracting  public  attention  to  it. 
The  expenses  of  the  former  census  have  been  : 

Years.  Population.  Amount. 

1790  3,924,843  $41,623 

1800  5,319,762  80,000 

1810  7,240,903  190,000 

1820  9,654,548  240,000 

1830  12,866,920  400,000  appropriation. 

1840  19,335,810*  600,000  estimate. 

*  According  to  Darby's  View  of  the  United  States,  though  evidently  too  large. 


256  AGENTS. 

We  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  exactly  how 
much  the  appropriation  for  the  purpose  of  taking  the 
next  census  will  be,  but  we  believe  that  it  will  not 
be  under  the  sum  we  have  here  stated. 

On  previous  occasions,  the  duty  of  taking  the  cen- 
sus has  fallen  entirely  upon  the  Secretary  of  State, 
and  of  course  will,  in  the  present  instance,  come 
under  his  control;  but  in  some  of  the  preceding 
chapters  we  have  spoken  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  as  being  the  individual  who  would  probably 
direct  the  inquiries  into  the  condition  of  the  manufac- 
turing and  agricultural  interests  of  the  country,  and 
we  have  done  so,  as  we  find  that  the  returns  on  the 
former  of  these  subjects,  which  were  laid  before 
Congress  in  1832,  were  prepared  by  him.  It  is  not 
to  be  expected,  however,  that  either  of  these  officers 
can  bestow  the  requisite  time  and  attention  to  the 
topics  proposed  in  the  foregoing  tables,  and  of  course 
much  of  the  accuracy  and  usefulness  of  the  informa- 
tion procured,  must  depend  upon  the  competency  of 
the  persons  to  whom  is  committed  the  preparation  of 
the  schedules,  and  the  supervision  and  arrangement 
of  the  returns. 

The  mode  of  procedure  hitherto  adopted  has  been 
to  permit  the  different  United  States  marshals  to  ap- 
point as  many  assistants  as  they  might  deem  neces- 
sary, who,  commencing  on  the  1st  of  June,  should 
take  an  enumeration  of  tee  inhabitants  in  their  seve- 
ral districts,  in  a  given  time.  The  marshals  have 
been  allowed  a  small  fixed  sum,  varying  from  $150 
to  $400,  for  their  trouble,  while  the  assistants  were 
paid  so  much  for  every  hundred  inhabitants  they 


AGENTS.  257 

enumerated,  according  to  a  scale  graduated  by  the 
density  of  the  population. 

As  the  labour  required  to  procure  all  the  returns 
suggested  in  the  foregoing  pages  would  be  much 
greater  than  heretofore,  we  are  inclined  to  think  that 
both  greater  responsibility  should  be  imposed,  and 
higher -compensation  awarded  to  the  Marshals.  In 
some  of  the  states,  the  time  of  the  United  States  mar- 
shals is  so  completely  occupied  at  present,  that  it 
might  be  better  to  appoint  an  additional  officer,  or 
"  Census  Marshal,"  to  superintend  the  returns  for 
such  districts.  It  should  be  the  duty  of  the  Marshal 
to  examine  the  returns  from  each  of  his  assistants, 
to  correct  all  errors  in  the  addition  of  the  several 
items,  and,  when  necessary,  to  transmit  them  again 
to  the  assistant  for  completion  if  defective,  or  for  cor- 
rection, if  inaccurate.  When  thus  revised,  it  should 
be  his  duty  to  forward  them  to  the  Department  at 
Washington ;  and  a  certificate  of  their  receipt,  exa- 
mination, and  approval  by  the  Secretary,  should  be 
obtained,  before  any  remuneration  for  his  trouble  is 
allowed  him.  The  fairest  mode  of  determining  the 
amount  of  this  would  be,  by  allowing  a  per-centage 
.on  the  dues  of  his  assistants,  which,  at  5  percent., 
would  yield,  on  an  average,  nearly  $1000  to  each 
Marshal  employed. 

It  should,  'we  think,  be  the  duty  of  the  assistants 
or  deputies,  (should  the  suggestions  we  have  made 
be  adopted,)  to  report  the  age  and  place  of  nativity 
of  every  inhabitant ;  the  number  of  births,  deaths, 
and  marriages,  that  have  occurred  in  their  districts 
within  a  year ;  the  education  and  occupation  of  the 
inhabitants,  together  with  the  manufacturing  and 
33 


258  AGENTS. 

agricultural  returns  which  may  apply  to  their  sec- 
tions ;  and  further,  to  write  in  each  column  of  the 
schedule  in  which  they  make  no  entry,  that  nothing 
relative  to  the  subject  exists.  When  the  column  is 
simply  left  blank,  there  is  always  some  ambigui- 
ty, whether  no  information  regarding  it  can  be  pro- 
cured, or  whether  the  deputy  has  omitted  to  procure 
it.  These  returns  thus  completely  filled  up,  they 
should  return  to  their  respective  Marshals,  and  if 
correction  wera  required  in  any  of  them,  it  would  of 
course  be  their  duty  to  comply  with  the  further  direc 
tions  of  the  Marshals,  but  if  none  such  were  necessary, 
the  duty  which  belonged  to  the  assistants  would  be 
fulfilled. 

Again,  it  should  be  the  duty  of  the  Marshals,  to 
procure  returns,  of  another  class,  viz :  those  which 
the  government  might  require  from  the  different 
township  and  county  clerks.  These  returns  would 
embrace  the  different  topics  which  we  have  referred 
to  under  the  heads  of  crime,  pauperism,  education, 
and  taxation ;  which  not  being  the  result  of  personal 
inquiry,  we  think  would  be  more  satisfactorily 
answered  by  the  different  state  officers.  Their  infor- 
mation, it  would  therefore  be  the  duty  of  the  mar- 
shals to  examine,  and  if  of  the  required  character, 
to  forward  to  the  department.  In  some  of  the  states 
the  information  desired  could  all  be  procured  at  the 
seat  of  legislature,  in  which  case  the  Marshals  might 
be  authorized  to  appoint  special  agents,  to  make  out 
the  necessary  abstracts  ;  and  when  there  was  little 
prospect  of  the  county  officers  attending  to  the  matter 
they  might  further 'be  authorized  to  send  agents 


AGENTS.  259 

through  the  different  counties  to  obtain  the  requisite 
returns. 

The  district  attorneys  might  be  called  upon  to  ren- 
der such  assistance  to  the  Marshals  as  they  might 
require,  to  frame  the  schedules  applicable  to  the  tax- 
ation in  use  in  their  sections,  and  to  report  the  state 
of  the  criminal  code  and  other  similar  topics. 

The  postmasters  in  the  United  States  might  also 
be  requested  to  furnish  any  information  which  they 
might  have  it  in  their  power  to  procure,  and  as  there 
is  at  least  one  in  every  township  in  the  country,  the 
most  detailed  accounts  could  through  them  be  ob- 
tained. 

It  might,  to  attain  these  ends,  be  advisable  for  the 
United  States  Government  to  pass  a  law  requiring 
all  holding  office  under  the  executive  authority,  to 
comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  secretaries 
relative  to  the  census,  also  to  request  the  several 
states  to  pass  similar  laws,  obliging  their  officers  to 
make,  on  adequate  compensation,  any  returns  which 
the  general  government  may  require,  and  to  this  we 
presume  no  objection  would  be  made. 

The  amount  of  compensation  which  the  different 
officers  are  to  receive,  as  we  have  repeatedly  re- 
marked, should  be  proportioned  to  the  services  which 
are  required  of  them.  This  principle  is  so  self-evi- 
dent, that  it  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  it,  and  we 
do  not  feel  qualified  to  speak  as  to  the  sums  which 
should  be  awarded  for  each  class  of  services.  As  a 
general  rule,  jailors  and  county  officers  reporting 
paupers,  might  be  allowed  as  much  as  the  assistant 
Marshals  are  when  reporting  the  number,  &c.,  of  the 


260  AGENTS. 

inhabitants,  but  what  that  should  be,  it  rests  with 
Congress  to  decide. 

We  do  not  think  it  necessary  to  enter  into  accurate 
statistical  details  regarding  the  products  of  those 
sparsely  settled  districts  in  which  it  is  so  expensive  to 
collect  information,  and  where  nothing  is  ever  manu- 
factured, and  little  if  anything  raised  .above  the  con- 
sumption of  the  district.  Where  therefore  the  popu- 
lation does  not  exceed  ten  inhabitants  in  one  square 
mile,  no  account  should  be  taken  of  the  statistical 
returns  relative  to  manufactures  or  agriculture. 

The  number  of  districts  at  the  taking  .of  the  last 
census,  was  34,  (counting  Florida  as  one  only)  to 
each  of  which  a  separate  Marshal  was  appointed, 
they  contained  in  all,  937  counties,  and  reckoning  the 
counties  and  subdivisions  of  counties  where  such 
exist,  there  were  5789  returning  districts  in  the  United 
States. 

As  the  whole  subject  of  the  agents  to  be  employed, 
must  be  much  better  understood  by  those  conversant 
with  the  business  details  of  the  different  depart- 
ments at  Washington,  we  feel  that  it  is  unnecessary 
to  dwell  longer  on  a  subject  which  can  be  of  no 
interest. to  the  general  reader,  however  essential  it 
may  be  to  the  furtherance  of  the  ends  we  have  in 
view. 


261 


CONCLUSION. 

WE  have  now  presented  to  the  reader,  in  detail,  the 
several  subjects  which  we  think  might  advantageously 
occupy  a  place  in  the  government  returns  for  1840 ; 
and  although  we  are  conscious  of  the  defects  in  our 
notices  of  these  various  topics,  wre  yet  indulge  the 
hope  that  they  may  serve  the  end  we  have  in  view, 
and  further  the  interests  of  statistical  science.  There 
are  many  interesting  inquiries  to  which  we  have 
made  no  reference,  from  the  desire  of  not  defeating 
our  purpose  by  too  many  suggestions,  but  should  be 
glad  to  see  them  embraced  in  the  list  of  topics. 
Among  these  might  be  mentioned  a  large  class  of 
subjects  arising  from  the  internal  improvements  of 
the  country,  the  canals,  railroads,  and  turnpikes,  with 
the  cost  of  their  construction,  the  nature  of  the  work 
performed,  the  extent  of  the  undertaking,  and  the 
yearly  returns  which  the  tolls  afforded — the  various 
literary  institutions  and  societies,  the  universities,  me- 
dical, theological  and  law  schools,  with  the  amount  of 
their  endowments,  the  number  of  pupils  and  extent 
of  their  libraries,  or  the  objects  and  views  of  the  so- 
cieties, their  resources  and  value  of  their  collections- — 
the  number  of  charitable  and  religious  societies, 
whether  for  relieving  the  poor  or  propagating  Chris- 
tianity, their  funds,  objects,  and  general  management. 
We  might  add  others,  but  these  may  suffice  as 
specimens  of  the  topics  for  inquiry  which  might 
be  suggested,  in  addition  to  those  we  have  proposed. 


282  CONCLUSION. 

Different  individuals  attach  different  degrees  of  im- 
portance to  the  subjects  of  inquiry,  but  we  believe 
those  we  have  more  fully  alluded  to  in  the  foregoing 
pages  are  such  as  will  most  generally  be  considered 
as  best  adapted  for  examination. 

We  have  already  noticed  the  care  evinced  in  the 
preparation  of  the  census  returns  for  1830,  which, 
having  had  occasion  to  examine  by  different  tests,  we 
have  never  been  able  to  discover  inaccurate.  It  is 
much  to  be  desired  that  the  same  accuracy  should 
characterize  all  future  statistical  returns,  though,  from 
the  great  difficulty  of  printing  columns  of  figures, 
much  attention  is  required  to  prevent  typographical 
errors  from  vitiating  the  returns.  When  commending 
the  manner  in  which  the  last  census  was  prepared, 
and  desiring  to  witness  the  same  care  bestowed  upon 
the  succeeding  one,  let  us  not  be  understood  as  con- 
sidering apparent  detail  as  a  proof  of  accurate  re- 
search ;  for  nothing  is  easier,  and,  in  our  opinion, 
nothing  is  more  futile  than  to  carry  out  decimal  frac- 
tions to  an  almost  interminable  length,  and  prove,  as 
it  were,  the  basis  of  a  calculation  by  the  detail  into 
which  it  is  carried.  From  the  various  authorities  to 
which  we  have  had  occasion  to  refer,  we  may  cite  a 
few  instances  of  this  absurd  subdivision  :  in  the  sta- 
tistical tables  of  1835,  at  page  190,  we  have  this  num- 
ber inserted,  87Smo ;  in  many  of  Mr.  McCulloch's 
tables,  the  decimal  fractions  are  extended  to  six 
figures ;  and  Dr.  Cleland  speaks  of  a  sum  as  being, 
three  shillings,  one  penny,  one  farthing,  and  one- 
eighth  of  a  farthing.  Such  particular  calculations 
subserve  no  useful  end  ;  they  neither  insure  accuracy 
in  the  aggregate,  nor  convey  more  definite  ideas  to 


CONCLUSION.  263 

the  reader.  In  astronomical  tables,  we  can  under- 
stand a  reason  existing  for  extending  the  calculations 
to  the  most  particular  minuteness  ;  but  in  calculations 
where  there  is  always  a  certain  degree  of  vagueness 
in  the  premises,  we  can  see  no  advantage  in  such  an 
ostentatious  parade  of  figures.  We  have  never  asso- 
ciated it  with  superior  accuracy,  and  are  commonly 
inclined  rather  to  question  the  truth  of  a  statement 
that  requires  to  divert  attention  from  the  integer  to  the 
fractional  parts. 

In  the  foregoing  pages  we  have  alluded  to  actual 
returns,  discarding  all  estimates,  than  which  nothing 
can  be  more  fallacious  and  embarrassing.  It  were 
much  to  be  preferred  that  any  return  should  be  remit- 
ted blank  to  the  department,  rather  than  filled  up  by 
some  estimate  of  the  assistant ;  for  however  much  we 
may  esteem  the  calculations  and  estimates  of  some 
men,  as  a  general  rule  they  are  of  no  statistical  value. 
We  have,  in  aformer  part  of  this  essay,  whenspeaking 
of  the  general  principles  of  statistical  inquiry,  referred 
to  this  subject,  and  further  remarks  were  therefore  un- 
necessary ;  but  we  hope  that  it  is  a  subject  to  which 
the  attention  of  government  will  be  attracted,  and  all 
diligence  be  used  to  prevent  unauthorized  estimates 
from  being  intermixed  with  ascertained  facts. 

The  unexpected  length  to  which  this  essay  has  ex- 
tended must  plead  our  apology  for  the  brevity  of  these 
remarks,  as  we  cannot  but  believe  that  the  reader 
must  have  comprehended  alike  the  objects  we  have 
aimed  at,  and  the  means  by  which  we  have  proposed 
to  attain  them. 


*       V-m^.AA    - 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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